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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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UK: Studies connect drug to mental illness
Sam Lister The Times
Friday 06 Jan 2006 CONCERNS over cannabis use revolve around the drug's link to psychosis, including delusional experiences, paranoia and depression. Although the degree of harm caused by regular cannabis smoking is still disputed, several reputable studies have concluded that the drug increases the risk of developing a serious mental illness. Short-term reactions include hallucinations, fantasies, a feeling of loss of control and feeling out of touch with surroundings. It remains unclear whether psychotic symptoms are a passing problem or something more long-term that persists even when drug use stops. Last year a team of researchers from New Zealand reported that regular smokers had almost double the normal risk of developing schizophrenia. A study in the British Medical Journal, also published last year, concluded that cannabis use moderately increases the risk of psychotic symptoms in young people - but has a much stronger effect on those who have already demonstrated a predisposition to symptoms. Another study, by Swedish researchers, suggested that cannabis use increases the risk of schizophrenia by 30 per cent. Separate research highlighted evidence that smoking cannabis as a teenager increases the odds of developing schizophrenia as an adult. A Danish study published last month found that almost half of patients treated for a cannabis-related mental disorder go on to develop a schizophrenic illness. The mental health charity Mind has also reported that psychiatrists have seen an increase in the number of people being admitted to hospital with psychotic episodes linked to cannabis use since the drug was downgraded.
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