Study links marijuana use to schizophrenia, depression, birth defects – Medical Marijuana Program Connection

(WTVO) — Marijuana has been considered something of a benign drug in comparison to more addictive substances, but a new study shows serious risks of physical and mental health issues.

After Colorado legalized cannabis in 2012, other states, including Illinois, followed suit. The federal government is working to downgrade the drug from a Schedule 1 drug, along with heroin and LSD, to a Schedule 3 drug, and toward eventual decriminalization.

Currently, 40 million adults (16% of the population) use cannabis at a rate more than double over the last 10 years, due to a cultural shift that sees more acceptance of the drug for medical and recreational use.

However, researchers from the Aarhus University Hospital in Denmark concluded that marijuana is not as harmless as proponents would have us believe, noting serious health risks.

Chronic cannabis use raised the risk of major depression, bipolar disorder, and psychosis by four times. Those with depression who self-medicate with marijuana may be causing the opposite effect, the study said.

Researchers also found cannabis use disorder was linked to 30% of schizophrenia diagnoses of Danish men in the year 2021. The data revealed that chronic marijuana was linked to psychotic breaks.