In a joint study between the Mental Health Services in the Capital Region of Denmark and the National Institute on Drug Abuse at the National Health Institute, researchers found that marijuana-use had a strong causal link to schizophrenia in young men. Their research was published in the journal Psychological Medicine.
For their study, the authors analyzed data spanning 50 years (1972-2021) of nearly 7 million people in Denmark between the ages of 16 to 49. They analyzed marijuana use to subject’s age and sex. Adjusting for other risk factors of schizophrenia, they found that a startling 30% of schizophrenia cases in men between the ages of 21 to 30 years old could have been prevented by not using marijuana. 15% of schizophrenia in men between the ages of 16-49 could have been prevented in 2021, alone.
Marijuana is not harmless as many people made it seem and the irresponsible legalization of it without use scientific-based evidence has lead to an increase in use with the above study adding to an already growing body of scientific literature of the increasing amount of schizophrenia diagnoses linked to marijuana use.
“Increases in the legalization of cannabis over the past few decades have made it one of the most frequently used psychoactive substances in the world, while also decreasing the public’s perception of its harm. This study adds to our growing understanding that cannabis use is not harmless, and that risks are not fixed at one point in time,” said lead author, Carsten Hjorthøj.
Marijuana is a threat to men’s mental health, not a solution to it. Whatever the driver is to use such a dangerous substance, there are other healthier solutions such as simple exercise, sex and eating healthy. Real men protect their mental health, not let it become a slave to a dangerous substance and giving themselves schizophrenia in the process.
C Hjorthøj et al. Association between cannabis use disorder and schizophrenia stronger in young males than in females. Psychological Medicine. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291723000880
