Marijuana use linked to greater psychosis risk in teens

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 Published July 2017 By Honor Whiteman  

Researchers say that adolescents who increase their use of the drug may be more susceptible to psychotic-like episodes.

Studies have long suggested a link between marijuana use and psychosis. New research sheds further light on this association, after finding that teenagers who increase their use of the drug are more likely to experience psychotic-like episodes…Compared with teenagers in the general population, the researchers found that teenagers who increased their frequency of marijuana use from occasionally to weekly or daily were at 159 percent greater risk of having recurrent PLEs.

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(Cannabis use and psychotic-like experiences trajectories during early adolescence: the coevolution and potential mediators http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jcpp.12765/full )

Psychosis relapse, medication non-adherence, and cannabis

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Published: 10 July 2017
 
In The Lancet Psychiatry, Schoeler and colleagues present a study describing the mediating effect of medication adherence on the association between continued cannabis use and relapse risk in patients with first-episode psychosis. They have previously reported a relapse rate of 36% in this patient group over a 2-year period.

Acknowledging the potential risk of psychosis relapse related to the high proportion of patients continuing cannabis use after the onset of psychosis, the current study1 investigates the same patient group consisting of 245 patients, obtaining retrospective data on active cannabis use and medication adherence shortly after illness onset, as well as risk of relapse at 2-year follow-up. The authors find that relapse of psychosis associated with continued cannabis use is partly mediated through non-adherence to prescribed antipsychotic medication.

It is well established that cannabis use increases the risk of schizophrenia, not only from the early Swedish conscript studies but also from studies on people who use sinsemilla in London, UK, showing that high potency cannabis increases the risk of schizophrenia. Twin studies from Norway have shown that cannabis increases the risk of psychosis, even when controlling for genetic factors. There has been discussion on the direction of the association, as none of these studies can rule out reverse causality, but it seems reasonable to conclude that cannabis is one of many stressors that can precipitate schizophrenia, at least in susceptible individuals.

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Marijuana Lobby Admits Tobacco Industry Executives Pay-to-Play

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6/07/2017 

“What do you want, what do you hate, what’s going to turn you off so I can’t ask you for money?”

This was the question the nation’s top pot lobbyist recently posed to tobacco executives in Michigan, where his lobbying group has drafted language for a recreational marijuana legalization law and is now collecting signatures to place it on the state’s 2018 ballot.

That Rob Kampia, Executive Director of the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP), went on-the-record to admit he asked this of Michigan tobacco companies is both alarming and contemptible. MPP is the lead special interest group responsible for funding and organizing every state-based marijuana commercialization campaign in the U.S. Kampia’s shameless solicitation for contributions from the tobacco industry should send chills down the spine of every American who remembers our painful national experience with Big Tobacco.

The nascent marijuana industry, which has been profiting off of high-potency commercial products, is not only following in Big Tobacco’s footsteps, but now openly admitting to taking money from them.

Make no mistake, the marijuana industry is laying the groundwork to take center stage as Big Tobacco 2.0. Tobacco companies have been eyeing marijuana as the next big addictive enterprise since the 1970’s, and now they’re getting in on this cash cow in the ultimate quid pro quo: taking money in return for shaping the language of today’s marijuana legalization initiatives

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Teen cannabis use and illicit drug use in early adulthood linked

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One in 5 adolescents at risk of tobacco dependency, harmful alcohol consumption and illicit drug use

Date: June 7, 2017

Source: University of Bristol

Summary: Researchers have found regular and occasional cannabis use as a teen is associated with a greater risk of other illicit drug taking in early adulthood. The study also found cannabis use was associated with harmful drinking and smoking.

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