The impact of recreational abuse of cannabis on the development of psychosis

Abstract

Overview of the topic: Cannabis has been legalized locally for medical use for the past five years and for recreational use for almost two years, so it is a relatively new topic that needs to be researched. This dissertation's goal is to research and assess how cannabis misuse in young adults’ correlates to the emergence of psychosis. The research question and PICO elements: what is the impact of recreational cannabis on the development of psychosis in young adults? The population was young adults using recreational cannabis (P). The misuse of recreational cannabis (I) was compared to young people who have never used cannabis (C). The outcome (O) was the risk of the development of psychosis. Inclusion and exclusion Criteria: The inclusion criteria incorporated studies which were conducted in the English language between 2013 and 2023. Summaries and abstracts were the only article components that were considered. There were no animal studies included in the search. A restriction on age was used of that being young adults which were between 18-29 years. Only articles involving young adults who experienced psychosis as a consequence from the use of cannabis were included. The outcome: Both manual and electronic searches were used to perform this search, which made use of the following databases: Ebsco, Medline ProQuest and PubMed. As a result, 2 systematic studies, 2 cohort studies and 1 case control study were retrieved and used. Methods of appraisal used: In order to generate alternative terms for this systematic search, the PICO elements were used as keywords. To narrow down the search, limiters and Boolean operators were applied. Irrelevant articles were removed using the PRISMA checklist. Their relevance to the PICO question was assessed using inclusion and exclusion criteria. Results and Conclusions: There is not enough data on the relationship between young individuals abusing cannabis recreationally and their risk of developing psychosis. However, the studies cited in the literature review and all of the data reveal a potential connection between regular cannabis abuse for recreational purposes by youths and the problems listed. It is necessary to talk about the ethical and legal implications of public drug use in a country like Malta where cannabis usage for recreational purposes is becoming legal. Implications and recommendations: Future studies should concentrate on finding a balance between the public health issues associated with recreational marijuana addiction and the current legality. In order to help the young people, educators, families, the community, government, non-governmental organizations, healthcare, and public health settings should collaborate to develop a policy that can guarantee the safe and responsible use of recreational marijuana while also safeguarding children from using it abusively or before they are legally allowed to.