The Straight Toke - THE Marijuana Blog

Hi Julius!
I was told that marijuana has been linked to an increased rate of schizophrenia. Is this true, or is it just propaganda? I love the blog, BTW!

I'm glad you like the blog -- we try hard to make it a useful resource, and it's always nice to hear from a fan.

Now, on to your question. In the 1950's and 1960's, there was a considerable amount of government-sponsored propaganda against marijuana, most famously the "Murder! Insanity! Death!" phrase made famous by the public service film Reefer Madness. The first and last parts of that slogan are completely false (there has never been a marijuana overdose in all of medical history,) but the middle part still gives some people pause. Does marijuana cause you to be schizophrenic (i.e. insane)?

The short answer is no... but that's only partially correct. Like many things, it depends on the person. There is a substantial amount of evidence (good evidence, not just psuedo-science) that, if you have a predisposition towards it, marijuana can trigger schizophrenia. It's not known how much is needed to do this, nor is it known how frequently one must use it in order for it to be a trigger -- most likely, it depends on the individual -- but it is known that, for some people, marijuana use can trigger the development of schizophrenia.

For most people, however, this isn't an issue. If you don't have any family history of schizophrenia, or some other mental disorder, it's a pretty safe bet that lighting up a joint won't cause you to develop multiple personalities. On the other hand, if your father, grandfather, uncle, and great-grandfather have all developed schizophrenia, marijuana use would not be a good idea. Actually, in such a case, any mind-altering substance (alcohol, for example) is not a good idea. It has been established that alcohol can trigger schizophrenia in people with a predisposition to it -- so the advice for those with a family history of it is the same: don't.

As more and more research is conducted, the better we will understand the risk factors (i.e. family history, genetic predisposition, etc.) -- but for right now, it's probably best to play it safe, and avoid marijuana if schizophrenia runs in the family.

That said, if a single puff from a joint could cause anyone to become schizophrenic, marijuana use would be far less common, and Holland would double its population overnight.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 24th, 2007 at 10:14 pm and is filed under Health/Medicine, Philosophy, Q/A. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.