Cannabis use is associated with an increased risk of psychosis. It’s suggested that genetic variation in the AKT1 gene might influence this adverse effect. Researchers at Kings College London, in the UK, studied the connection.
Researchers at Royal Edinburgh Hospital, in the UK are the first to follow patients over 2 years.
Research suggests that cannabis use has a negative effect on onset and outcome of schizophrenia. Now, researchers at Eli Lilly Nederland at Houten, The Netherlands report, “cannabis users experienced less satisfaction with life and had a lower probability of having a relationship compared with nonusers.”
People with schizophrenia frequently report benefit from cannabis use. Yet, cannabis may be a risk factor for schizophrenia. Researchers from the University of Bergen, in Norway reviewed the medical research for a connection.
Researchers at the University of Amsterdam, in the Netherlands, hypothesized that cannabis use (or a cannabis use disorder) at a younger age relates to a high-risk symptoms at a younger age. And a second study comes to rather odd conclusions about marijuana and schizophrenia severity.
Writing on Medscape, Dr. Michael Compton reviewed the effects of marijuana.
Researchers from Australia report that early use of marijuana is a risk-modifying factor for psychosis in young adults.
 Early onset of psychosis is associated with a history of lifetime cannabis abuse or dependence, according to researchers at Harvard Medical School in Boston.
According to a study in The Lancet, “There is now sufficient evidence to warn young people that using cannabis could increase their risk of developing a psychotic illness later in life.”
NORML, the medical marijuana advocacy group, thinks this is a positive study. I don’t see it that way.
Here is another in our ongoing series on recent marijuana-related medical research. Cannabidiol (CBD) is a major product of the marijuana plant. It lacks marijuana’s psychological effects, and it has been suggested that CBD might be effective as an antipsychotic. The aim of this study was to investigate the response to CBD in treatment-resistant schizophrenia.