cannabis use disorder

This Is Not Your Grandfather’s Weed

/ SupremeCmdr / 2 Comments

So let me be the doctor who says it plainly. This is not the mild plant of the 1970s. Then, cannabis was 1-3% THC. Today’s products run 15-25%, and concentrates — dabs, vapes, wax — hit 70-90%+. When people say “it’s natural, it’s harmless,” they’re defending a product that no longer exists. We didn’t legalize the old plant. We industrialized a far more potent one.

A Danish registry study followed 6,788 people diagnosed with substance-induced psychosis. Overall, 32.2 percent later developed schizophrenia-spectrum or bipolar disorder. Among those with cannabis-induced psychosis, 47.4 percent later received one of those diagnoses.

A large Ontario cohort found that approximately 26 percent of people who presented to an emergency department with cannabis-induced psychosis were diagnosed with a schizophrenia-spectrum disorder within three years. The corresponding rate after alcohol-induced psychosis was approximately 8.9 percent. Among the substances studied, cannabis-induced psychosis carried the highest risk of later transition to schizophrenia-spectrum illness. Is it cannabis-induced psychosis or bipolar disorder? https://kevinmd.com/2026/07/is-it-cannabis-induced-psychosis-or-bipolar-disorder.html

YIKES.

Cannabis Dependence and Erectile Dysfunction

/ SupremeCmdr / 3 Comments

The short-term analysis included 29,442 patients with cannabis dependence matched to 29,442 patients without dependence. Cannabis dependence was significantly associated with an approximately 4-fold higher risk for ED and PDE5i prescription at 3 months to 1 year from diagnosis among all men and those aged 40 years and older and an approximately 3-fold higher risk for men aged 18-39 years, Dr Asanad’s team reported in The Journal of Sexual Medicine. The longer-term analysis included 17,211 men with cannabis dependence matched to 17,211 men without dependence. Cannabis dependence was significantly associated with an approximately 1.2-fold increased risk for ED among all adult men and those aged 40 years and older, the investigators reported. Cannabis Dependence Linked With Erectile Dysfunction, Testosterone Deficiency – https://www.renalandurologynews.com/news/erectile-dysfunction-testosterone-cannabis-dependence

Yikes.

Cannabis and Impaired Brain Development

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The adolescent brain is particularly vulnerable to cannabis, especially today’s higher-potency products, which put teens at risk for impaired brain development; mental health issues, including psychosis; and cannabis use disorder (CUD).  That was the message delivered by Yasmin Hurd, PhD, director of the Addiction Institute at Mount Sinai in New York, during a May 6 press briefing at the American Psychiatric Association (APA) 2024 annual meeting. 

“We’re actually in historic times in that we now have highly concentrated, highly potent cannabis products that are administered in various routes,” Hurd told reporters. Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) concentrations in cannabis products have increased over the years, from around 2%-4% to 15%-24% now, Hurd noted. High-Potency Cannabis Tied to Impaired Brain Development, Psychosis, CUD – Medscape – May 13, 2024. https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/high-potency-cannabis-tied-impaired-brain-development-2024a1000935

Earlier posts on this topic:

Marijuana is Too Strong (THC turbocharged)

Cannabis Use and Psychosis Risk

Cannabis Use and Psychosis Risk (Aussie Version)

Reefer Madness