Cannabis and Mental Health: Unpacking the Complexities

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Blaze it up! It’s time for an episode on cannabis. And just to be clear, not “on cannabis”, but “on, as in about, cannabis”. What’s the evidence that this incredibly popular drug will lower your IQ? What about the question of whether it causes psychosis?

In this toked-up episode of The Studies Show, Tom and Stuart try to find out—and gracefully refrain from any “drug humour” while doing so.

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Show notes

* A summary of the endocannabinoid system

* 2015 review of the evidence on the psychological effects of cannabis

* Famous 1987 study of Swedish soldiers on cannabis and psychosis

* The NEMESIS study

* 2007 systematic review of longitudinal studies of cannabis and psychosis

* 2022 systematic review and meta-analysis with results on dose-response

* Study finding earlier use predicts higher psychosis risk

* 2023 study on sex differences in the cannabis-psychosis relation

* Example of a Mendelian Randomisation study on cannabis and psychosis

* Data on cannabis exposure over time in the UK

* Dunedin Cohort study on cannabis and IQ

* And a response to some controversy over the data

* 2021 systematic review of IQ decline after smoking cannabis

Credits

The Studies Show is produced by Julian Mayers at Yada Yada Productions.

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