Drugs: Marijuana Use Hastens Onset of Schizophrenia

Honing in on the risks of cannabis, scientists have found that marijuana use hastens the onset of schizophrenia by nearly three years for those already at risk for the disorder.

Schizophrenia is a disease characterized by severe hallucinations and delusions. Typically, it begins between the ages of 18 and 28 — slightly younger for men and older for women. Between 80 and 85 percent of the time, genes are the cause. The findings of an earlier onset for marijuana users have obvious implications for young people who have a family history of schizophrenia or who are beginning to show signs of the disease — but doctors caution that people may be at risk and not know it. Most schizophrenics don't have relatives who are afflicted.

For more, see Marijuana Use Hastens Onset of Schizophrenia by Melinda Burns, March 26, 2011 at Miller-McCune.