this post was submitted on 04 May 2025

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160

The Link between Cannabis and Psychosis in Teens Is Real (www.scientificamerican.com)

submitted 21 hours ago by flango@lemmy.eco.br to c/world@lemmy.world

122 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Teens have access to vastly more potent cannabis than their parents had at their age. Parents need to understand the risks, including psychosis

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[–] protist@mander.xyz 105 points 16 hours ago* (last edited 4 hours ago) (6 children)

I worked inpatient psych for a long time, and can tell you first-hand the link between psychosis and cannabis is real. No, this does not mean "if you smoke weed you're going to get psychotic!" What it does mean is that if you're someone with a genetic predisposition for schizophrenia (e.g. you have a known family history) weed is a potential trigger for a psychotic episode. If someone has already developed schizophrenia, smoking weed can make their symptoms worse and more difficult to manage with medications.

80% of people coming through the psych hospital, whatever, I don't care if you smoke weed. Honestly, I wish people would smoke weed rather than use meth, K2, or a bunch of other drugs that fuck people up. But for that subset of people prone to psychotic episodes, the conversation centers around "some people can smoke weed and be fine, and you are not one of those people."

The most common ages for men to develop first episode psychosis are 18-25, and while it's dumb that this article focuses on teenagers, the risk in that age group is genuinely higher. This article really is dumb overall and does not explain any of this well

[–] MelonYellow@lemmy.ca 1 points 10 minutes ago* (last edited 9 minutes ago)

Hey I work in inpatient psych too and want to back you up. It’s totally a known observation that patients have been coming in younger and younger. And it’s very common to see a history of drug use of some kind (yeah usually for kids it’s weed, if not polysubstance).

Sad to see because once they start coming back to the hospital a few times, it’s like they’re in the system so to speak. Too many kids don’t break out of that cycle. I always discharge kids like, “I hope to never see you again. Don’t come back here” lol.

[–] Djehngo@lemmy.world 5 points 4 hours ago

Just to add to your (excellent) comment; in the UK you can be prescribed medical marijuana but it has to be done by a consultant level doctor and a multi disciplinary trial. The most important disqualifying factor is any history of psychosis, if they see that on your medical records they will not write you a prescription.

So I would a assume there is some published medical literature they are following which states cannabis exacerbates the symptoms of psychosis.

[–] barsoap@lemm.ee 8 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

The article, most of all, misses that it's about CBD to THC ratio, not raw overall cannabinoid content. CBD is an antipsychotic and on the cusp of getting the stamp of approval for treating schizophrenia. Strains on the street, in the meantime, have been bred for THC at the expense of CBD because it's THC which gives a head-high, makes consumers believe they got strong stuff.

The deeper question, overall, is why we live in a society which prompts people to take anxiolytics to cope.

[–] protist@mander.xyz 2 points 4 hours ago

I linked below a systematic review where many of the studies do find this to be the case.

[–] SunshineJogger@feddit.org 11 points 10 hours ago* (last edited 10 hours ago) (1 children)

I switched from drinking too much alcohol too often (wine, beer, etc) to occasionally dry vaping weed about 8 years ago. And from my mental and physical perspective it was a extreme shift to the better.

So I would even include alcohol in your list.

And I wouldn't let my kids use weed as long as long as I am capable to control that aspect.

[–] protist@mander.xyz 6 points 5 hours ago* (last edited 5 hours ago)

Alcohol can make you feel like shit and can do great damage if used too often, but meth and K2 can fuck someone's brain up after even one use due to lack of quality control

[–] Ledericas@lemm.ee 4 points 10 hours ago (1 children)

i heard this too, some people have accounted thier friends went full schizo after getting baked, of couse they need to have underlying disease first.

[–] futatorius@lemm.ee 5 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

I have friends who are now diagnosed schizophrenics, whose first major symptoms occurred while they were smoking weed. I have more friends whose schizophrenia appeared during or immediately after use of psychedelics. I tend to favor the belief that they had an underlying condition that was triggered, but I'm also slightly suspicious of the reasoning, which is too much like "they were already cracked and that's why they broke at that time" which can be tautological.

Hopefully, someone will do a good study of people who show early or precursor symptoms of schizophrenia and look at their risk of getting full-blown symptoms versus the baseline population, with or without recreational drug use.

[–] protist@mander.xyz 5 points 5 hours ago

They cite one such study right there in the article, and there are others: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38775165/

This isn't new information either, the experience I related above was a decade ago, and the impact of weed on people prone to psychotic disorders was already well known to the medical community at that time.

[–] cyberpunk007@lemmy.ca 7 points 12 hours ago (2 children)

Help me out here. I read the symptoms of psychosis, and I've definitely experienced those a couple times but only when I get super baked. But when it wears off I'm normal again.

What am I missing? To me this sounds like there's a link between bad driving and people that drink which is like "duh" to me.

[–] protist@mander.xyz 14 points 12 hours ago

Substance-insuced psychosis (psychotic symptoms while you're intoxicated) is a different diagnosis than a psychotic episode. That psychotic symptoms are not due to substance intoxication is actually one of the criteria of a psychotic episode. What I'm talking about are people for whom weed can trigger a psychotic episode that doesn't go away after the high wears off.

[–] quetzaldilla@lemmy.world 5 points 11 hours ago (2 children)

Wikipedia will be a much better source, but my understanding is that psychosis can be a temporary symptom, or it can be a permanent health condition that calls for medical treatment.

Psychoactive drugs like marijuana, mushrooms, LSD, etc. can trigger permanent psychotic health condition on people who have genetic traits predisposed to such conditions.

It's like a genetic game of roulette whenever any of us smoke it-- it could be the beginning of a very difficult health condition to manage for the rest of our lives.

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[–] deranger@sh.itjust.works 111 points 21 hours ago (15 children)

This article blows. “Genetically modifying” cannabis for higher THC content? You mean breeding, like every other plant grown for consumption?

[–] thorhop@sopuli.xyz 16 points 17 hours ago (3 children)

Listen, I tell my countrymen all the time: we want to legalize, but only "low grade* to "mid grade". I.e not high grade. We're kind of strict though, almost dry state. Why?

Skunk and the likes have been bred to maximize THC content at the cost of the CBD content. The problem there being that THC is psychoactive and in strong amounts can even be sort of psychedelic, whereas CBD is an antipsychotic that counteracts the negative effecta THC has.

The bigger nut though - and this is the frustrating part - THC can never actually cause psychosis, but can bring out latent psychotic tendencies or be part and parcel of bringing onset psychosis - but a drunken stooper or even an intense run could do that too.

When it comes to high grade tho: do not fuck around with it. If you've never tried cannabis, make sure you don't get a skunk type strain or anything that is deemed "heavy". It's not necessary anyway, it's just a stupid trend between bros to try to out stone or out high each other. "Ooo, I'm the most high! ha ha ha ha"

It's been an arms race between breeder for decades now regarding maximizing THC content, but let me just say gtfo here with that noise. Give me a working man's spliff any day, thank you very much. We're supposed to function as well.

[–] futatorius@lemm.ee 6 points 7 hours ago (1 children)

I strongly disagree with that view. The stronger the strain, the less you have to smoke or vape to get a desired effect. Smoking, in particular, has well-documented side effects, including COPD.

Your beliefs about the psychopharmacology of THC and CBD are simplistic. The actual mechanisms (and number of different cannabinoids involved) are far more complex.

Go ahead and choose the strength that suits you, but don't presume that gives you the right to impose that choice on others.

[–] Whats_your_reasoning@lemmy.world 2 points 5 hours ago

I second your position. I'm a recreational user, but my girlfriend has chronic pain and a medical card. If we take the same dosage, I can be halfway to my limit while she's only just starting to feel a high. If only low-potency cannabis were available, I can't imagine the dosages she'd have to consume. If it were too weak, it wouldn't be an option for her at all.

At least with high-potency cannabis, she is able to avoid opioids, which would be far more dangerous for her.

[–] deranger@sh.itjust.works 28 points 17 hours ago (6 children)

That’s fine to have your own opinion but don’t restrict my rights to grow the stickiest of the icky. Sometimes I want to roast a fat joint and be functional. Sometimes I just want to sleep without toking for a half hour. One hit shit absolutely has its place, and with accurate labeling, you can be the judge.

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[–] 30p87@feddit.org 68 points 21 hours ago (2 children)

he had had persistent delusions for more than six months. Sam was fully convinced that the government was following him and constantly surveilling him

That's not a delusion tho.

[–] umbrella@lemmy.ml 4 points 10 hours ago

not anymore it isnt

[–] Zippygutterslug@lemmy.world 24 points 17 hours ago* (last edited 17 hours ago)

The government probably is surveilling them.

https://dnyuz.com/2025/04/30/this-is-what-we-were-always-scared-of-doge-is-building-a-surveillance-state/

Also, anecdotes are not evidence unless you've got a brain worm.

[–] Buffalox@lemmy.world 50 points 21 hours ago* (last edited 21 hours ago) (1 children)

You know, I'm not really interested in a long anecdote about Sam and his father. It doesn't add any real information.
I had hoped to read about the actual evidence.

[–] mjhelto@lemm.ee 3 points 5 hours ago

Please stop smoking weed. The alcohol industry is suffering. Won't someone think of the alcoholics!!

[–] yesman@lemmy.world 36 points 21 hours ago (2 children)

The war on drugs has made research into cannabis difficult and compared to alcohol and tobacco, we are practically blind. Legalization has changed this and we should pay attention.

The only thing to match the propaganda of the drug war is the CBD cure-all craze. I think that it's wise to do some basic research so that one day we can have an informed opinion rather than a knee jerk reaction.

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