Heavy Long Term Use of Marijuana Could be Linked to Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia linked to problematic use of marijuana has increased proportionally over the past 25 years, according to a new Danish study.

In 1995, 2% of schizophrenia diagnoses in the country were associated with cannabis use disorder. In 2000, it was around 4%, but has climbed to 8% since 2010, researchers found.

‘I think it is highly important to use both our study and other studies to highlight and emphasize that cannabis use is not harmless,’ said Carsten Hjorthøj, an associate professor at the Copenhagen Research Center for Mental Health and an author of the study.

Previous research has suggested that the risk of schizophrenia is heightened for people who use cannabis, particularly heavy users, with some hypothesizing that it might be a ‘component cause’ that interacts with other risk factors.

The new study was based on data from Denmark’s national health registry and included all people in Denmark born before December 31, 2000, who were 16 years or older at some point from January 1, 1972, to December 31, 2016.

The study assessed people who had a clinical diagnosis for cannabis treatment disorder, not general use of the drug.

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