Cannabis use significantly increases the risk of developing schizophrenia. This association is especially common among young men between the ages of 21 and 30, according to the study. published in the journal Psychological Medicine.
Cannabinoid abuse disorder, like schizophrenia, is a serious but treatable mental illness that can have a major impact on a person’s daily life. People suffering from the first are not able to stop taking cannabis, despite the damage to their health. Schizophrenia negatively affects a person’s ability to think, feel, and behave in society. People with schizophrenia may feel disconnected from reality and have difficulty performing routine daily tasks.
Scientists from the National Institute for the Study of Drug Abuse (USA) together with European colleagues decided to find out how cannabis dependence is associated with the likelihood of developing schizophrenia, and in which sex it is higher. To do this, they relied on medical data from 7 million people in Denmark, collected over a period of half a century – from 1972 to 2021.
After analyzing data from different age groups, the researchers found that in men aged 16 to 49, not using cannabis could reduce the risk of developing schizophrenia by 15%. At the same time, for women in the same age group, the risk of being diagnosed with schizophrenia would decrease by 4%.
Using statistical modeling, the most obvious association was found among young people aged 21 to 30. In their case, cannabis abuse is associated with 30% of preventable cases of schizophrenia. Scientists believe that cannabis abuse is the most important factor in the development of schizophrenia in young men. Scientists have also shown that the number of cases of schizophrenia associated with cannabis abuse has increased dramatically over the past half century, which is associated with an increase in the availability of the drug and its legalization in some countries. .
“The increase in the legalization of cannabis over the past fifty years has made it one of the most commonly used psychoactive drugs in the world and has reduced public perception of its harms. This study adds to the understanding that consumption of cannabis is not safe and that the risks do not remain the same at any given time,” the authors explained.
Read the Latest Ukraine War News on The Eastern Herald.
