Marijuana Use Linked to Schizophrenia in Young Men, Study Shows

A new study published in the journal Psychological Medicine has found a possible link between heavy marijuana use and schizophrenia in young men. Researchers analyzed the health records of 6.9 million people in Denmark over the last 50 years and found strong evidence of an association between cannabis use disorder (CUD) and schizophrenia among men and women, though the association was much stronger among young men. The study authors estimated that as many as 30% of cases of schizophrenia among men aged 21-30 might have been prevented by averting CUD. The study does not offer hard-and-fast proof of the cannabis-schizophrenia connection, which could be accomplished only through randomized controlled trials.