THE MARIJUANA-SCHIZOPHRENIA LINK

USA TodayWritten by: Philip BoffeyPublished: Aug 4, 2014

Topic: DrugsPresentation by Craig Gibson

Proving a Link Critics of marijuana have argued that it may

increase risk of psychosis Science has not proven OR disproven this

idea

Types of Risk The Federal

government recently released a study that evaluated the dangers of marijuana

Findings Long term/heavy use

leads to increased risk of psychotic disorders

Most applies to people with a predisposition

Unclear Science The National Institute

on Drug Abuse can’t prove a direct link between them because there could be other factors

A Yale University study showed that somewhere between 8 and 14 percent of schizophrenia cases are linked to marijuana use

The Big Flaw in the Argument

Biggest challenge to this idea is the fact that, while marijuana use has gone up significantly in recent years, the number of people with psychotic disorders has not changed.

Summary No scientific link has

been found Schizophrenia affects

about 1% of the adult population

Most marijuana uses don’t experience psychosis

People with a predisposition should avoid using marijuana

Significance The argument

against marijuana is weakened by this article and could lead to marijuana becoming legalized sooner.