Marijuana linked to mental health risks in young adults, growing evidence shows

New research, involving millions of people worldwide over decades, adds to worries that heavy use of high-potency cannabis could exacerbate the mental health crisis in the U.S.

Marijuana plants are shown at a California Street Cannabis Company location in San Francisco on March 20, 2023. Along the West Coast, which has dominated U.S. marijuana production from long before legalization, producers are struggling with what many call the failed economics of legal pot...a challenge inherent in regulating a product that remains illegal under federal law. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu) (Jeff Chiu, Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

Over the last decade of diagnosing countless young patients with new psychotic disorders, one striking result has stuck out for New York City psychiatrist Dr. Ryan Sultan.

“Of all the people I’ve diagnosed with a psychotic disorder,” he said, “I can’t think of a single one who wasn’t also positive for cannabis.”

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Sultan, an assistant professor of clinical psychiatry at Columbia Irving Medical Center, is one of many experts raising serious concerns about the increasing marijuana use by adolescents and young adults.

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