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Bad news for drug prohibitionists – a new study has thrown doubt on the idea that smoking cannabis can cause psychosis in teens.

Drug war advocates have repeatedly cited previous research which showed that teenagers who smoked were at a higher risk of psychotic episodes – using it as evidence that dope is making children crazy.

The new study by University of Oxford, University of Leeds and used 4,830 16-year-old twins to rule out genetic factors – and found that both cannabis use and psychotic episodes were triggered by environmental factors, including being poor, or bullying.

In other words, cannabis doesn’t cause the episodes – children who are under stress for other reasons tend to smoke dope, and are also at higher risk of psychotic episodes.




The researchers write in the journal Psychiatry Research, ‘Cannabis use and psychotic experience co-occur due to environmental factors. Focus on specific environments may reveal why adolescent cannabis use and psychotic experiences tend to ‘travel together’.

‘Exposure to socioeconomic disadvantage may induce stress that triggers the development of psychotic episodes and cannabis use.’

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