Is there a connection between pot and schizophrenia? A long-held medical belief that there was is being challenged by new science.
Many in the pro-pot movement claim that marijuana has no harmful lasting effects, but scientists have long claimed there was a connection between pot and psychosis. Some new science calls this into question.
Studies have repeatedly shown that people with schizophrenia are about twice as likely to smoke pot as those who are unaffected, CNN reports. The data also suggests that those who smoke cannabis are twice as likely to develop schizophrenia as nonsmokers. There was even an alarming research review published in 2007 that seemed to conclude that trying marijuana just once was associated with a 40 percent increase in risk of schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders. The problem with that is, while marijuana use has become much more widespread, rates of schizophrenia have remained the same, affecting approximately one percent of the population. (more…)
