Males, ages 16 – 20 years, with a Cannabis Use Disorder (CUD) are at greater risk of adverse mental health outcomes like schizophrenia. These are some of the findings from a recent Danish research paper that monitored nearly 7 million people from 1972 to 2021. Researchers Hjorthøj, C (et.al.) noted that nearly 15-20% of these cases of schizophrenia might have been prevented by eliminating CUD as a co-occurring factor.
The authors commented on the fact that THC levels available in Denmark had increased sharply during the study period. In parallel, the prevalence of CUDs also increased as did the frequency of cases of schizophrenia. The CUD/ schizophrenia risk factor for males, 16 to 20 years, (3.84) was over twice that of females of the same age group (1.81).
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