DWQA QuestionsCategory: Risk to HumanityIs this doubling of the incidence of mental illness in cannabis users a fair estimate of the risk factor for using cannabis?
Nicola Staff asked 3 years ago
This is a more than fair estimate of the increased liability of using cannabis on a chronic basis for causing an eventual psychotic episode or other severe mental illness manifestation. Keep in mind that in many cases still, the use of cannabis is under-reported and underrepresented in the data collection because it is still so often considered an incidental finding and not considered germane to the understanding of the presenting illness, which in these types of studies would be the mental impairment. Those patients you have described in the studies mentioned in your previous questions represented individuals with a substance abuse disorder, and so were heavy chronic users. There are many casual users which will nonetheless incur severe spirit meddler infestation facilitated by even low-level exposure to the drug, that end up causing mental disturbances. But this will not be caught because the clinical history of drug use will appear benign.