Is weed actually causing teens to develop psychotic disorders?

Question

Is marijuana use in teens really causing them to develop psychotic disorders at a much higher rate than teens who don't use it at all? Or does it just apply to teens who are in the top percentage of usage?

Comments

After reading the article and finding other sources with a similar study, it seems that although marijuana usage is a key factor in the triggering or heightening of symptoms. I think the article disregards the idea of genetic predispositions to psychotic illness, and the factor that that plays as well.

https://childmind.org/article/marijuana-and-psychosis/#:~:text=Smoking%20weed%20can%20both%20trigger,earlier%20onset%20of%20those%20disorders.

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After reading the article I've found mutiple studies that show smoking weed as a teenager can lead to increased risk of psychotic disorders. The study shows that factors such as genetic inhertiance of psychotic disorders can be a factor as well but smoking pot at a young age especially as a teenage boy can make the situation worse.

https://www.utoronto.ca/news/how-cannabis-use-affects-brains-male-teenagers-high-genetic-risk-schizophrenia

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I think the main point of this article is how male teens who have a genetic predisposition to are more likely to develop psychotic disorders, not that the drug itself is increasing their risk. I also think it is important to note how this article only references men, what about women and their relationship to development to psychotic disorders in relation to marijuana?

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After reading this article I feel that although there are many supportive facts that marijuana has leading affects of teen mental health, I Believe that there are other factors a that should be included. There is no doubt that the affect's of marijuana can increase mental health disabilities in teens however, this article only relates to young men and doesn’t include the other affects to this generations mental health issues. Therefore there is a larger pool of teens and people in general that are not included in this claim.

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After reviewing the article, I found multiple other sources that match up with the information provided by NBC, which is already a very reputable source known for their long-standing reputation of maintaining journalistic integrity by thorough fact checking and reliance on primary sources. These sources cite research from a study recently published by researchers from the University of Toronto, showing that teenagers who used cannabis were much more likely to develop psychotic disorders. My only critique of the study is that they didn’t put enough emphasis on the genetic predisposition or other contributing factors, however it is much more difficult to test for all of these various aspects.


https://www.camh.ca/en/camh-news-and-stories/new-evidence-suggests-stronger-link-between-teen-cannabis-use-and-psychotic-disorders
https://www.news-medical.net/news/20240526/Adolescent-cannabis-use-linked-to-higher-risk-of-psychotic-disorders-study-finds.aspx
https://www.utoronto.ca/news/how-cannabis-use-affects-brains-male-teenagers-high-genetic-risk-schizophrenia

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I think this article provides strong evidence that supports the original claim. The website you provided is credible, as it is a fellow university. I do wish there was more information about how the study was conducted and why they only tested this on males though.

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This is a great source to fact check the original claim. I definitely agree with you that they should have talked more about how one's genetic predisposition would affect these statistics, but overall this article definitely helps the claim.

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I do agree with the article you posted. I think that the article should have delved more into ones genetics, and the likelihood of psychotic disorders due to marijuana usage

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I have found articles that have further supported the claim that marijuana for teens is not good for their brains. The original article is a good source, just providing further proof.

https://www.cdc.gov/cannabis/health-effects/cannabis-and-teens.html#cdcreference_2
https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/24625/the-health-effects-of-cannabis-and-cannabinoids-the-current-state
https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/publications/drugs-health-products/is-cannabis-safe-use-facts-youth.html

Answer 1

After reading the article posted in the original claim, it appears that while marijuana may play a role in triggering/worsening psychotic disorders, there's no firm evidence to say that it actually develops these disorders. As learned in psychology, correlation does not imply causation. The article seems to neglect any outside factors like a predisposition to schizophrenia, so we have no clear idea of if the percentage of men who do develop psychotic disorder and are using marijuana have a history in the family with these psychotic disorders. I looked into other articles linked within that article, most of the other NBC ones are saying the same thing as the one in the original claim: https://www.nbcnews.com/health/mental-health/marijuana-induced-psychiatric-disorders-high-potency-weed-psychosis-rcna146072 and https://www.nbcnews.com/health/mental-health/marijuana-use-mental-health-young-adults-weed-rcna84984. In the first article listed above, the mother also informs us that her son, who was diagnosed with psychotic disorders, did indeed have family history linked to schizophrenia. Thus, this means that cannabis may not have been the sole reason for the development of these issues. There was an additional article linked from a research study in Denmark by Cambridge that explained that there is an increasing association between cannabis use disorder and schizophrenia, and that in 15% of cases CUD may trigger schizophrenia, it is not actually responsible for most cases in Denmark. While there is an association in the sense that cannabis may trigger or worsen psychotic disorders, it is incorrect to say that it is the reason for the development of these disorders. Correlation/association does not imply causation. 

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/psychological-medicine/article/association-between-cannabis-use-disorder-and-schizophrenia-stronger-in-young-males-than-in-females/E1F8F0E09C6541CB8529A326C3641A68