The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine published a report on the health effects of cannabis and cannabinoids. Here we reproduce the key points from the mental health chapter.
Psychosis and schizophrenia
- Cannabis use is likely to increase the risk of developing schizophrenia and other psychoses; the higher the use the greater the risk.
- In individuals with schizophrenia and other psychoses, a history of cannabis use may be linked to better performance on learning and memory tasks.
Bipolar disorder
- For individuals diagnosed with bipolar disorders, near-daily cannabis use may be linked to greater symptoms of bipolar disorder than non-users.
Other conclusions
- Cannabis use does not appear to increase the likelihood of developing depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress disorder.
- Heavy cannabis users are more likely to report thoughts of suicide than non-users.
- Regular cannabis use is likely to increase the risk for developing social anxiety disorder.
