A 34-year-old male with cannabis use disorder (CUD) recently came into the addiction treatment center where I am the chief medical officer.
He reported having a full-blown psychotic incident before arriving and showed signs of schizophrenia during his time with us. Schizophrenia is a serious brain disorder that causes a person to think, feel, and behave abnormally, and can make daily functioning nearly impossible.
Three things to note about this situation with our resident: First, it’s rare for schizophrenia to show up in males in their 30s. The typical onset is late teens to early 20s for males, and late 20s to early 30s for females. Second, weed/marijuana/cannabis is indeed highly addictive for certain individuals, as it was for our resident. Third, the episode points to the larger reality that cannabis is significantly more potent than it’s ever been. The result: We’re now in a whole new world regarding the psychological effects it can have on people.
Add the fact that cannabis........