A new Harvard study published in the journal Schizophrenia Research has found evidence that cannabis use, regardless of how often or in what quantities , does not lead to an increase in schizophrenia, despite decades of propaganda to the contrary.

For the study, researchers examined patients separated into four sample-groups; “sample 1: 87 non-psychotic controls with no drug use; sample 2: 84 non-psychotic controls with cannabis use; sample 3: 32 patients with a schizophrenia spectrum psychosis with no drug use; sample 4: 76 patients with schizophrenia spectrum psychosis with cannabis use. All cannabis using subjects used this drug during adolescence, and no other substance, with the exception of alcohol. Structured interviews of probands and family informants were used to obtain diagnostic information about probands and all their known relatives.”

After conducting this study, the Harvard researchers concluded that; “The results of the current study suggest that having an increased familial morbid risk for schizophrenia may be the underlying basis for schizophrenia in cannabis users and not cannabis use by itself.”

The study, which was led by Lynn DeLisi, MD, Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, can be found by clicking here.

This is one of several schizophrenia-related studies released this year; one government funded study found that cannabis may actually combat the symptoms of schizophrenia, and another found that it may lead to better cognitive function in those who are schizophrenic.

– TheJointBlog