• Question: Do schizophrenics have a tendency to smoke more Cannabis or does the Cannabis itself induce Schizophrenia?

    Asked by louisvbw to Suzi on 21 Jun 2011.
    • Photo: Suzi Gage

      Suzi Gage answered on 21 Jun 2011:

      Hi @louisbw
      Great question! This is exactly what I’m trying to find out with my PhD. Although there seems to be some sort of connection between cannabis use, and psychosis (although even this is being debated). But even if a link is found, this doesn’t tell you which way round it is.

      Some people think that cannabis use causes changes in the brain which can lead to schizophrenia. But other people argue that schizophrenics find that smoking cannabis can make their illness less bad, and can help them cope, so this is why there is a link. People with schizophrenia are using cannabis as medicine!
      A third possibility is that there’s some other cause that makes people BOTH more likely to smoke and more likely to get schizophrenia, this is called a confounder!

      It’s my aim to try and answer this question with my PhD work, but at the moment I don’t know. So watch this space!

      Hope that answers your question a bit!

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