From the Editor
Cannabis was the only thing that helped him sleep, my patient explained. He also described positive information he had found online. He then asked: Will it affect my psychosis?
In a new review published in The Lancet Psychiatry, Wayne Hall (of The University of Queensland) and his co-authors look at cannabis use and major mental disorders. The topic isn’t new, of course, but their approach is impressive: they draw on many types of studies (epidemiological, genetic, experimental, and preclinical) to try to establish the connection – or the lack of connection – between daily cannabis use and psychosis, bipolar disorder, anxiety, and depression. “There is credible evidence that regular cannabis use plays a contributory causal role in psychosis.” We discuss the paper and its implications.
How have cannabis and alcohol misuse changed over time? In the second selection, from JAMA Psychiatry, Beth Han (of National Institutes of Health) and her co-authors use a US dataset with almost 190 000 participants, and show a sharp rise in cannabis use disorder. “More effective cannabis use disorder treatments are needed.”
Finally, in the third selection, Dr. Sivabalaji Kaliamurthy (of Howard University) writes about cannabis in an essay for The New York Times. He notes a big increase in the potency of cannabis and describes his worries as a physician, particularly about adolescent users. “The question now is whether we are willing to regulate and enforce product safety, especially to protect the most vulnerable among us.”
DG
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