Treetops
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Thought this interesting..
The results are considered particularly worrying as skunk now accounts for around 80 per cent of the street market in cannabis in the United Kingdom.
Scientists at the Institute of Psychiatry at King's College London made the discovery after studying admissions to hospital for psychotic illnesses such as schizophrenia, paranoia and serious depression.
They found that the patients were seven times more likely to have smoked skunk than ordinary cannabis or hash – and that was on top of the increased risk associated with heavy use of the weaker variety of the drug.
"Our study is the first to demonstrate that the risk of psychosis is much greater among people who are frequent cannabis users, especially among those using skunk, rather than occasional users of traditional hash," said Dr Marta Di Forti.
"Unfortunately, skunk is displacing traditional cannabis preparations in many countries, and the availability of skunk on the UK "street market" has steadily increased over the past six years.
"Public education about the risks of heavy use of high potency cannabis is vital."
Around one per cent of the population in the UK suffer a psychotic illness including hallucinations, paranoia and schizophrenia at some point in their lives
Previous studies have established a direct link between cannabis and psychosis and it is generally thought regular use doubles your chances of developing mental health problems.
Teenage cannabis users are particularly susceptible and have been shown to be more likely to develop paranoid personalities, hallucinatations and even schizophrenia later in life.
While family history is the most significant reason for developing a mental illness, cannabis is thought to act as a trigger for the latent disease.
Scientists believe that the active ingredient THC – or Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol – is to blame for the effect.
Old fashioned hash or marijuana contains four per cent THC compared with up to 20 per cent in skunk, a hybrid form of the plant first developed in the Netherlands.
Today's skunk cannabis also contains virtually no traces of another chemical, called CBD (cannabidiol), which appears to counteract the damaging effects of THC in traditional varieties.
Dr Di Forti and her team, which published their results in the British Journal of Psychiatry, collected information from 280 people attending South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust suffering their first symptoms of psychosis.
They found the patients were twice as likely to have used cannabis for more than five years, and six times more likely to use it everyday than a control group of healthy individuals.
Moreover, among those who had used cannabis, patients with psychosis were almost seven times more likely to use skunk.
She said: "Psychosis was associated with more frequent and longer use of cannabis. Our most striking finding is that patients with a first episode of psychosis preferentially used high-potency cannabis preparations of the skunk variety."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/h...ge-increase-in-risk-of-psychotic-disease.html
The results are considered particularly worrying as skunk now accounts for around 80 per cent of the street market in cannabis in the United Kingdom.
Scientists at the Institute of Psychiatry at King's College London made the discovery after studying admissions to hospital for psychotic illnesses such as schizophrenia, paranoia and serious depression.
They found that the patients were seven times more likely to have smoked skunk than ordinary cannabis or hash – and that was on top of the increased risk associated with heavy use of the weaker variety of the drug.
"Our study is the first to demonstrate that the risk of psychosis is much greater among people who are frequent cannabis users, especially among those using skunk, rather than occasional users of traditional hash," said Dr Marta Di Forti.
"Unfortunately, skunk is displacing traditional cannabis preparations in many countries, and the availability of skunk on the UK "street market" has steadily increased over the past six years.
"Public education about the risks of heavy use of high potency cannabis is vital."
Around one per cent of the population in the UK suffer a psychotic illness including hallucinations, paranoia and schizophrenia at some point in their lives
Previous studies have established a direct link between cannabis and psychosis and it is generally thought regular use doubles your chances of developing mental health problems.
Teenage cannabis users are particularly susceptible and have been shown to be more likely to develop paranoid personalities, hallucinatations and even schizophrenia later in life.
While family history is the most significant reason for developing a mental illness, cannabis is thought to act as a trigger for the latent disease.
Scientists believe that the active ingredient THC – or Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol – is to blame for the effect.
Old fashioned hash or marijuana contains four per cent THC compared with up to 20 per cent in skunk, a hybrid form of the plant first developed in the Netherlands.
Today's skunk cannabis also contains virtually no traces of another chemical, called CBD (cannabidiol), which appears to counteract the damaging effects of THC in traditional varieties.
Dr Di Forti and her team, which published their results in the British Journal of Psychiatry, collected information from 280 people attending South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust suffering their first symptoms of psychosis.
They found the patients were twice as likely to have used cannabis for more than five years, and six times more likely to use it everyday than a control group of healthy individuals.
Moreover, among those who had used cannabis, patients with psychosis were almost seven times more likely to use skunk.
She said: "Psychosis was associated with more frequent and longer use of cannabis. Our most striking finding is that patients with a first episode of psychosis preferentially used high-potency cannabis preparations of the skunk variety."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/h...ge-increase-in-risk-of-psychotic-disease.html
