Reefer Madness?

New Scientist has a bit of an article about various studies of the long-term effects of smoking cannabis at a young age. From the article: "those who had smoked cannabis three times or more before the age of 15 were much more likely to suffer symptoms of schizophrenia by the time they were 26 - they had a 10 per cent chance compared with 3 per cent for the general population".

So if any of you are under 15 and don't fancy more than tripling your chances for schizophrenia, stay off the dope! Of course, schizophrenia isn't the only problem for which cannabis use seems to be a risk factor. If you are 'at risk' of psychosis (whatever that means) and you use cannabis, your risk increases dramatically. One study found that "susceptible individuals who avoided cannabis had a 25 per cent chance of developing psychosis. Susceptible individuals who smoked it had a 50 per cent risk". So crazies, stay off the reefer!