‘Currently, there is no strong evidence that use of cannabis of itself causes psychological or social problems,’ such as mental illness or school failure, lead study author Dr. John Macleod of the University of Birmingham in the UK told Reuters Health.
‘There is a great deal of evidence that cannabis use is associated with these things, but this association could have several explanations,’ he said, citing factors such as adversity in early life, which may itself be associated with cannabis use and psychosocial problems.
Macleod and his team reviewed 48 long-term studies, 16 of which provided the highest quality information about the association between illicit drug use reported by people 25 years old or younger and later psychological or social problems. Most of the drug-specific results involved cannabis use.
One consistent finding among the studies was that young people who reported using cannabis were more likely to have attained a lower educational level than their non-cannabis using peers. Cannabis users were also more likely to report an increased use of other illicit drugs.
On the other hand, cannabis use was not consistently associated with violent or antisocial behavior, or with psychological problems.” (Reuters)
