Can Cannabis Be Adopted As A Treatment for Psychosis?

Now, this is something extremely interesting, and very powerful.
Let me start by asking you: what do you think about marijuana and psychosis? Do you think cannabis is about “bad trips”, dementia, panic attacks, paranoia and depression? If you are among those who think that pot is not only bad but also extremely dangerous – in other words, if you are someone who believes cannabis makes you dumb – at the end of this article you will feel pretty flabbergasted.

A big part of many anti-cannabis discourses is based on the idea that those who smoke pot are doing nothing but giving themselves brain damage. It sounds pretty silly, I know, but if you think about it, this is not that funny. It is not funny because the worst thing that can happen to any kind of product is too labeled as “dangerous”. And it is even less funny because cannabis is actually not bad for you, especially when we compare it to tobacco, alcohol and even white sugar.

Now, what happens when something it’s not only illegal but also dangerous? It ends up in a box that nobody can really open without getting into trouble, a can of worms, that’s what happens.

And then suddenly, a team of experts – namely C.D. Schubart, I.E.C. Sommer, P. Fusar-Poli, L. de Witte, R.S. Kahn, M.P.M. Boks – decides to publish an article on the journal called European Neuropsychopharmacology claiming that “although cannabis use is associated with an increased risk of developing psychosis, the cannabis constituent cannabidiol (CBD) may have antipsychotic properties” (Schubart et al. 2014, p. 51), adding that “evidence from several study domains suggests that CBD has some potential as an antipsychotic treatment” (Scubart et al. 2014, p. 58).

What makes this publication interesting is the number of references the authors use to support their claim. We are talking about dozens of studies carried out by some of the best scientists on Earth, all pointing at the fact that CBD actually comes equipped with some strong antipsychotic properties.

An incredible piece that pushes us to change perspective and specify what kinds of use and strains we consider whenever we talk about “how bad cannabis is for you”. In fact, cannabis comes in different shapes and forms. The levels of CBD change according to the variety. Before judging cannabis, then, try to understand how different strains do different things to your body.