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Cannabis and Schizophrenia

An Overview of the Evidence to Date

  • Chapter
Marihuana and Medicine

Abstract

The issue of Cannabis use and abuse on the part of persons with schizophrenia has attracted the attention of both epidemiologists and clinicians for some time. Their interest is motivated by the likely possibility of a significant interaction between a drug-which at sufficient doses can cause measurable psychodysleptic changes (1)-and a disease process with similar effects on psychic function. Some observations have been reported consistently by different authors in separate settings, and have thus become part of the current “factual knowledge” base in the field of clinical psychiatry. Others have been rather inconsistent and their interpretation remains unconvincing or frankly controversial. Of course, all the findings registered to date in the Cannabis/schizophrenia literature derive from the study of naturalistic conditions (i.e., the spontaneous use of the drug within the population in case) for ethical considerations preclude the experimental administration of this drug to individuals suffering from schizophrenia.

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Authors
  1. Juan C. Negrete
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  2. Kathryn Gill
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anesthesiology, New York University School of Medicine, USA

    Gabriel G. Nahas MD, PhD, DSc  & Kenneth M. Sutin MD, MS  & 

  2. Department of Biochemistry, Oxford University, USA

    David Harvey PhD

  3. Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Uppsala, Sweden

    Stig Agurell PhD, PharmD, DSc

  4. NYU School of Medicine, USA

    Nicholas Pace MD  & Robert Cancro MD  & 

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Negrete, J.C., Gill, K. (1999). Cannabis and Schizophrenia. In: Nahas, G.G., Sutin, K.M., Harvey, D., Agurell, S., Pace, N., Cancro, R. (eds) Marihuana and Medicine. Humana Press, Totowa, NJ. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59259-710-9_66

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59259-710-9_66

  • Publisher Name: Humana Press, Totowa, NJ

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