Cannabis use and the risk of developing a psychotic disorder.
World psychiatry : official journal of the World Psychiatric Association (WPA) January 1, 2008 Wayne Hall, Louisa Degenhardt
Regular cannabis use during adolescence and young adulthood predicts an increased risk of schizophrenia and psychotic symptoms, even after controlling for confounding factors like other drug use and personal characteristics. This relationship does not appear to be explained by self-medication for psychosis. A contributory causal role is biologically plausible because psychotic disorders involve disturbances in the dopamine system, which interacts with the cannabinoid system, as supported by animal studies and a human provocation study. The most plausible hypothesis is that cannabis use precipitates schizophrenia in individuals already vulnerable due to personal or family history.