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Two cases of "cannabis acute psychosis" following the administration of oral cannabis

Bernard Favrat, Annick Ménétrey, Marc Augsburger, Laura E. Rothuizen, Monique Appenzeller, Thierry Buclin, Marie A. Pin, Patrice Mangin, Christian Giroud

BMC Psychiatry December 1, 2005 DOI: 10.1186/1471-244x-5-17 (opens in new tab)

Study at a glance

AI-extracted from the abstract
Characteristics Case report Peer reviewed
Sample size 2
Population Healthy occasional but regular cannabis users with no psychiatric history
Intervention Oral cannabis
Topics Cannabis
Key findings Oral cannabis can induce transient psychotic symptoms in occasional users even with limited blood concentrations.

Abstract

Abstract Background Cannabis is the most commonly used illegal drug and its therapeutic aspects have a growing interest. Short-term psychotic reactions have been described but not clearly with synthetic oral THC, especially in occasional users. Case presentations We report two cases of healthy subjects who were occasional but regular cannabis users without psychiatric history who developed transient psychotic symptoms (depersonalization, paranoid feelings and derealisation) following oral administration of cannabis. In contrast to most other case reports where circumstances and blood concentrations are unknown, the two cases reported here happened under experimental conditions with all subjects negative for cannabis, opiates, amphetamines, cocaine, benzodiazepines and alcohol, and therefore the ingested dose, the time-events of effects on behavior and performance as well as the cannabinoid blood levels were documented. Conclusion While the oral route of administration achieves only limited blood concentrations, significant psychotic reactions may occur.

Comparable studies

Other case reports and case series on cannabis, most cited first.

Study Year Design Participants
Hallucinogen persisting perception disorder after psilocybin consumption: a case study 18-year-old man with HPPD after mixed psilocybin and cannabis intoxication 2005 Case study n = 1
Cannabis‐induced Koro in Americans American men aged 22-26 with years of cannabis experience who reported negative... 2001 Case series n = 3
“Hallucinations” Following Acute Cannabis Dosing: A Case Report and Comparison to Other Hallucinogenic Drugs Healthy 30-year-old male 2018 Case study n = 1
Hallucinogen persisting perception disorder: A literature review and three case reports Patients with hallucinogen persisting perception disorder 2018 Case series n = 3
Cannabis Psychosis in Young Psychiatric Inpatients Consecutive psychiatric hospital admissions of patients aged 35 and under 1986 Case study n = 25

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