More potent cannabis and more frequent use are contributing to higher rates of psychosis, especially in young people

We’ve heard this narrative several times. Cannabis accentuates people who are prone to psychosis’s psychosis. As everyone’s endocannabanoid system reacts different with cannabis, there is no objective standard of the effects on people as a whole. I’ve known people who have used cannabis who have had psychotic episodes. Few and far between, but I know of one instance at least. On the counter, I know many people who use it regularly who are high achieving people, sometimes in incredibly technical fields like medicine, law, or finance, and these people continue to be successful in their fields. Some are true disruptors.

Overall I think mental health is something everyone has to gauge for themselves, though that is easier said than done. Objectively, the WSJ’s conservative bias is well known. And it is still the best paper when it comes to market news, M&A, and general business stories. When it comes to policy questions it has a lean.

Cannabis has become more potent. People know how to extract its purest forms and people can grow it artfully to yield incredibly high THC content, for whatever that’s worth. As a 20ish year user, I stopped wanting to go to space all the time. I have shit to do. And I can get have a better high from a lower THC content flower than from a higher THC content distillate, relative to how frequently i’ve used that strain and how it interacts with my endocannabanoid system. Maybe it’s the effect of terpenes. Maybe its the THC strains hallucinogenic effect on my system related to potency. It’s all still so under studied. But I want to present what I see from the sources I follow in this space. So here is the WSJ ‘s recent take.