Cannabis users are 40% more likely than non-users to suffer a psychotic illness such as schizophrenia, say UK experts.
Writing in the Lancet, a team led by Dr Stanley Zammit from Bristol and Cardiff Universities said young people needed to be made aware of the dangers.

In an additional article, experts said up to 800 schizophrenia cases a year in the UK could be linked to cannabis use.

The researchers looked at 35 studies on the drug and mental health - but some experts urged caution over the results.

The study found the most frequent users of cannabis have twice the risk of non-users of developing psychotic symptoms, such as hallucinations and delusions.

But the evidence for a link with depression and anxiety was less clear, they said.

The authors said the risk to any individual of getting schizophrenia remained low overall, but because cannabis use was so common, they estimated it could be a factor in 14% of psychotic problems among young adults in the UK.

However, they said they could not rule out the possibility that people at a higher risk of mental illness were more likely to use the drug.

Study author, Professor Glyn Lewis, professor of psychiatric epidemiology, said: "It is possible that the people who use cannabis might have other characteristics that themselves increase risk of psychotic illness.

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Simon
Viewpoint Webteam