The Mounting Evidence: Cannabis May Increase the Risk for Schizophrenia in the Developing Mind

Aritlce from the March 2013 Drug Abuse Recognition Journal:

The evidence is unquestionable and no longer susceptible to criticism as being politically motivated; cannabis use in adolescence is a dangerous proposition. Mounting evidence is clear on that point. The effect of smoking marijuana on the developing brain is fraught with serious impact. Unfortunately little is said about it, especially in mainstream reporting circles. A recently published report in the Journal of Translational Psychiatry sheds light on the role that cannabis plays in increasing the risk for schizophrenia in the developing brain.[1] In the report, adolescent and adult mice each received injections of synthetic cannabinoid agonist drugs, substances designed to activate the CB1 cannabinoid receptor in the brain. Several months later, the same mice were subjected to a battery of behavioral testing. At that time, scientists examined those parts of the rat brain that are typically impacted by cannabinoid activity, an area that is directly wired to a rodent's process of fear conditioning. The evidence is pretty bleak. The findings paint a very discouraging picture of the long-term effects that marijuana smoking has on the teenage brain.   In examination of the adolescent rodent brains that were exposed to THC, there were obvious abnormalities in fear conditioning and prepulse inhibition; both are phenomenons that are found to be skewed in cases where there are diagnoses of schizophrenia. Other measurements of psychological function did not differ much. In postmortem examinations, hippocampus cells exposed to cannabinoid activity showed degraded expression of glutamate receptors. Glutamate is critical to proper functioning of fear conditioning pathways-more evidence of brain injury.   With the political developments stemming from the most recent election season, readers should take pause as to the direction that marijuana legalization seems to be taking nationally. The Obama administration has done very little so far to signal the U.S. government's position one way or another on these developments. The Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) has been mostly silent. The expansion of medical marijuana activism in America is a potentially dire warning of what will be perhaps a national move to decriminalize marijuana in the near future. With the budget "sequester" as a foghorn warning of looming government bankruptcy, where else can the political class turn to find new means of funding both important and pet programs? Legalized and taxed marijuana is an obvious cash cow. Ironically, the inexorable move toward marijuana legalization is occurring in the face of growing, incontrovertible evidence of marijuana's threat to the brains of developing boys and girls. Notwithstanding the growing body of evidence that now associates cannabis use with exacerbations of psychiat  ric conditions, especially in young and middle aged adults, it is discouraging that marijuana activism is met with silence by the mainstream media.     Making matters worse is the emergence and explosive growth of K2/Spice designer drug abuse. Synthetic cannabinoids now plug any hole that organic THC left in the broader drug user marketplace. Both forms of THC (organic and synthetic) are threats to the well-being and psychiatric health of children and adults. Moreover, medical professionals, substance abuse counselors, and therapists must be sensitive to the signs and symptoms of cannabinoid abuse in their patients and clients nowadays. In the years to come, cannabis abuse by Americans will likely climb. Let's hope that we produce sufficient scores of treatment professionals to deal with the problems that are sure to come. [1] Gleason KA et al. Susceptibility of the adolescent brains to cannabinoids. Long-term hippocampal effects and relevance to schizophrenia. Translational Psychiatry 2012 Nov 27; 2:e199.

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