Medical Marijuana Worsens Disease For Psychotic Patients?

Medical marijuana arguments have been rising over time since it was first legalized. Some cannabis patients say that it can help them with their diseases. But the current study shows that patients with psychosis have a higher risk of psychosis relapse if they smoke weed.

Researchers from Kings' College London gathered a team to investigate if marijuana really does increase the risk for a psychosis relapse. They stated that once the patient undergoes psychosis, there is a chance that they can have a relapse normally. What they want to know is if patients who were given medical marijuana get the higher risk of relapse.

Researchers surveyed 220 patients who have a record of admission to psychiatric facilities who have been diagnosed with psychosis in South London in the year 2002 and 2013. The participants have an average age of 29 years old during the time they were interviewed. The individuals were asked if they have ever used marijuana prior to their first episode of psychosis.

Upon the follow-up two years after, researchers check their medical records if the participants have an episode of psychosis, were re-admitted or used marijuana during the two-year period of time. The result led them that patients who started to smoke and others who continue to smoke cannabis after their firsts episode of psychosis has a higher risk of psychosis relapse over the ones who did not smoke at all, as reported by MedScape.  

Experts concluded that people diagnosed with a psychotic illness and those who use marijuana needs more hospital compared to  those who do not use them at all. In addition, a lecturer in the Department of Psychosis Studies at King's College London, Rashmi Patel said, "It's possible that marijuana may worsen symptoms of psychosis and make the condition harder to treat," in an interview with Live Science.

In line with this, assistant unit chief of psychiatry at Zucker Hillside Hospital in Glen Oaks, New York, Dr. Scott Krakower, said that the results may help doctors show to psychosis patients that marijuana is not as favorable as they think.