The decriminalization and stigmatization of marijuana left a prominent doctor to address growing concerns about “increasingly common” and long-lasting psychotic disorders.
(Video: Fox Business)
Dr. TV personality and addiction medicine specialist Drew Pinsky joined “The Bottom Line” on Fox Business Friday to discuss “extremely troubling” data about marijuana's connection to conditions like bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.
“When this started coming up, I was actually a bit skeptical. It just felt like too much,” he told co-hosts Dagen McDowell and Sean Duffy. “We were always aware that cannabis was associated with psychotic episodes, but the previous suspicion was that it was mainly people who were already on that path, maybe that's why they were using the drug.”
Citing a 2017 study in the American Journal of Psychiatry along with a recent analysis by Truveta, a health care system collective, the data showed an increasing trend in emergency room visits for cannabis-induced disorders.
“Between 2019 and 2020, we found a nearly 50% increase in the rate of ED visits for cannabis-induced disorders and ED visits with cannabis. The rate of ED visits for cannabis-induced disorders continued to rise through 2023…”, reaching a rate more than 50% higher in November 2023 than in November 2019, Truveta's research said.
It was also suggested that those who had experienced at least one psychotic episode due to cannabis use were almost 50% more likely to develop bipolar disorder or schizophrenia.
“…especially in states where it's legal for recreational use, the concentration of cannabis is so dramatic, approaching 100%, that it's literally a different drug, it has a different effect on people,” he said. warn Pinky before detailing some of the other documented user effects.
“And now, very commonly, we're seeing hyperemesis, people developing episodes of vomiting that are not controlled … It's very common for weed,” he said. “And the psychotic episodes have become more and more common to the point that they're actually kind of the hallmarks of the psychosis that these kids are going through because of weed.”
The 2017 study found that the risk of developing some form of psychosis was highest among 16-25-year-olds, and Pinksy challenged the attitude of this demographic that society has ingrained into them.
“You're fighting a deep cultural bias where they've literally been taught to believe that tobacco is significantly worse than cannabis,” he said before extolling, “and they're right in terms of alcohol, in terms of “impact on overall health. In terms of being carcinogenic, in terms of lost work years, yes, the cumulative effects of alcohol are significantly worse than cannabis.”
“But cannabis is bad, too,” Pinsky asserted.
“Now that we have such incredibly high concentrations of cannabis, we're starting to see a real problem with really unexpected psychotic episodes and more addiction,” he continued on a personal note. “I have family members who are recovering from cannabis addiction.”
In parting words, the addiction medicine specialist added that he doesn't “think there's any chemical that's bad. I think there are things that are risks with any chemical that humans come into contact with. And just you have to understand those risks.”
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