Cannabis And Schizophrenia

The relationship between cannabis and schizophrenia is still not certain, but many studies have been done to see if there is a clear link between the two. Cannabis is a highly used drug in many parts of the world and is the most common illicit drug in Canada. Statistics Canada (2012) reported that just over twelve percent of Canadians over the age of fourteen have used cannabis in the past year. They also reported that over thirty percent of the users are between the ages of 18 and 24 and are mostly males. At this stage, the adolescent brain is still developing. Schizophrenia is a mental illness where people experience different hallucinations and are usually withdrawn from the rest of the world due to not being able to relate to others …show more content…
Parkar et al (2011) explained how this study used males who either had schizophrenia, a cannabis dependence, or neither and performed three different experiments on them. These experiments included an FDG PET scan which is when a dye is given to the patient to show the difference between the damaged and non-damaged tissue they have. The other two test performed included the glucose uptake in some of the participants and a chow test to compare the glucose uptake in the different parts of the brain. These tests were done because the researchers believed that the glucose patterns in the brain should be very similar in a person with a cannabis dependence and in a person who suffers from schizophrenia. The researchers reported that there is a receptor from the cannabis that is very closely related to the one found in a person with schizophrenia. People who have the gene that leads to schizophrenia are more likely to be sensitive tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) which is a component in cannabis that induces hallucinations. People with this mental illness are more sensitive to experience psychosis due to THC so they will get the symptoms even with a very small dosage. It was explained that there was a large difference in the temporal region closest to the middle of the brain and the region closest to the outside. Even though there was a large …show more content…
It has not been found that cannabis alone causes schizophrenia but there are still some correlations. Most people who have used cannabis before developing symptoms of schizophrenia will use more to self-medicate themselves. This makes sense because cannabis is known to reduce stress and help people fit in, which are both things people with the mental illness struggle with. All the studies also agreed that cannabis can induce symptoms earlier than they were supposed to start showing but it mostly all must do with a person’s genes. Cannabis is a very common drug for many teens to use in Canada and other places around the world. With some States legalizing the use of cannabis and Canada is being in the process of doing so many studies have come out discussing the impact of cannabis on mental illness. For future studies to be even more useful and accurate the groups they are studying should include both male and female, people of different races, and to have an even number of study groups. Including these three things will help researchers see if the use of cannabis impacts a certain gender more or maybe a certain race. Researchers should also make sure all the study groups are chosen at random, but to also make sure they include people from all social backgrounds. Having people from different social backgrounds will show if how a person is raised has more to do with the development of schizophrenia than the use