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March 6, 2013 | Volume 15, Issue 10


Question: Dr. Bradbury, you have written in the past about marijuana use and psychosis. With the legalization of marijuana in at least two states, I keep wondering what impact that will have on the mental health of the individuals who begin using. Is there any new information on the effects of marijuana on the brain, particularly on those who might be prone to develop a mental illness.

There has been more discussion about the possible harmful effect of the use of marijuana. The June 2010 issue of the Monitor on Psychology had as its cover story, Marijuana: Medicine or Menace?

According to Medical News Today, studies continue to find a significant correlation between marijuana use and the development of psychotic symptoms, particularly when it begins during the childhood and teen years. However, the studies to date are correlational and so causation cannot yet to attributed to marijuana use. Until controlled experimental studies can be conducted (if they can ever be ethically conducted), it is difficult to ascertain which causes which. What we do know is that adolescent brains are still developing and are very vulnerable to the effects of any type of drug. The primary active ingredient in marijuana is tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), a drug potent enough to induce paranoia in individuals not known to have a mental illness. Also, individuals with a family history of mental illness are more susceptible to the toxic effects of THC.

Additionally, marijuana has been found to reduce the IQ of individuals who used it over a period of time. The study cited in Medical News Today included more than 1,000 subjects who were initially administered IQ tests at age 13, and before they started using marijuana. Cognitive tests were re-administered midway through their young adult years and again at age 38. Researchers found a significant connection between ongoing cannabis use and a decline in IQ. The negative effects of the marijuana was particularly pronounced if marijuana use began during the teen years. The more people became dependent on marijuana, the greater the decline in IQ. Significant impairment was found across 5 different cognitive areas, and especially in the areas of executive function and processing speed.

So, to answer your question, researchers cannot say with any degree of medical certainty whether marijuana cause psychosis, or whether budding psychotics are prone to use marijuana. We do know it is a potent drug that works on the nervous system, and as with any other medication that works on the nervous system, it has the potential to make relatively permanent changes in the function of the nervous system. There are those who have a strong hunch that regular marijuana exacerbates mental illness, particularly among those prone to psychosis. The recent longitudinal study that demonstrated cognitive decline among long-term marijuana users supports this idea. The better choice is to just not use marijuana or any other intoxicating substance.

Lorin L. Bradbury, Ph.D. is a licensed psychologist in private practice in Bethel. For appointments, he can be reached at 543-3266. If you have questions that you would like Dr. Bradbury to answer in the Delta Discovery, please send them to The Delta Discovery, P.O. Box 1028, Bethel, AK 99559, or e-mail them to [email protected].

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