New research suggests marijuana use and schizophrenia share common genes.
According to the Center for Disease Control, about forty percent of individuals in the United States will try marijuana at least once in their lifetime. On a global scale, marijuana is the most used illicit drug worldwide. Given the high prevalence rate, researchers have long sought to understand the risk-factors associated with marijuana use and symptoms of mental illness. Recently, Power et al. (2014)[1] conducted a study with over 2,000 healthy participants to examine the link between schizophrenia and cannabis use. Power et al. found a relationship between the genetic markers associated with a risk of developing schizophrenia and those associated with marijuana use. Although the exact cause of schizophrenia remains unknown, researchers have often attributed the etiology of the disorder to genetic, psychological, and environmental factors. For many years, prevalence rates have indicated that marijuana use is significantly higher among individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia than the rest of the population. Furthermore, individuals who abuse marijuana are 2x more likely to develop a psychotic disorder. These correlations have lead many to assert that marijuana use raises the risk of psychosis. Although the exact etiology of schizophrenia remains a mystery, new genetic discoveries by Power et al. suggest that marijuana use and schizophrenia share common genes. As such, individuals at-risk for developing schizophrenia may also be genetically predisposed to abuse marijuana. These findings further highlight the complex interactions between heredity and environmental factors as they relate to mental illness.
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[1] Power, R.A., Verweij, K.J., Zuhair, M., Montgomery, G.W., Henders, A.K., Health, C.,…Martin, N.G. (2014). Genetic predisposition to schizophrenia associated with increased use of cannabis. Molecular Psychiatry. Retrieved from http://www.nature.com/mp/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/mp201451a.html