Researchers said daily users of high potency cannabis have a 5x increased odds of developing a psychotic disorder compared with a never user.
COLORADO, USA — The Colorado School of Public Health (CSPH) is launching a statewide awareness campaign on Thursday, " The Tea on THC ", created by HB-1317 , passed in 2021. It aims to tackle the often overlooked health risks of high-concentration cannabis.
The campaign targets young and pregnant people, while equipping the public with information about the risks of using high-concentration cannabis products like shatter, dabs and edibles.
"Colorado was a leader in legalization of cannabis. It needs to be a leader now and going forward in understanding the harm, the benefits." said Dr. Cathy Bradley, dean of CSPH. Credit: Colorado School of Public Health (CSPH) The risks include depression, dependency and psychosis if you’re using high-concentration cannabis chronically, according to CSPH. Research shows daily users of high potency products have a 5x increased odds of developing a psychotic disorder, compared with someone who has never used them before.
"We’re certainly seeing more visits in the emergency department at Children’s Hospital from chronic use," Bradley said.
She said patients are presenting with symptoms of depression and hyperemesis syndrome, or chronic vomiting related to ongoing, high-concentration THC use.
"When somebody has psychosis, we often associate that with schizophrenia, and we also see a higher incidence of delusions and hallucinations in people that have been using high concentration cannabis and cannabis products repeatedly over time, and for long periods of time," said Dr. Annie Collier , a clinical psychologist and associate professor at CSPH.
Researchers at CSPH said there’s still a lot of work to do to fully understand these products, especially because THC-concentrations are much more potent now than ever before.
"There is concern that THC can both contribute to the onset of psychotic illnesses and also perhaps for those with severe mental illness, make the problem worse, increase symptoms," said Dr. Jon Samet , pulmonary physician, epidemiologist and professor at CSPH. "I think there’s a clear consensus that the greater the exposure to THC, the higher the risk for these very severe problems."Bradley […]
Awareness campaign talks about the risks of high-potency cannabis
