Abstract Objective:To determine sociodemographic and clinical predictors of cannabis use among patients with first-episode psychosis (FEP) admitted to a tertiary care psychiatric unit in Pakistan. Methods:This cross-sectional study was conducted at the Psychiatry Unit, Khyber Teaching Hospital, Peshawar, from January 2021 to December 2024. Consecutive inpatients with FEP and no prior...
Abstract Background Psychotic disorders substantially impact individuals psychologically, occupationally, and socially. Although modifiable risk factors such as insecure attachment styles, history of psychological trauma, and substance use disorders (of which cannabis is the most frequent) are known to increase risk, it remains unclear how they may interact with each other to create pathways of...
Background: Schizophrenia is a complex mental disorder influenced by both genetic and environmental factors. Cannabis use, particularly products with high tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) content, has been identified as a potential environmental risk factor for psychosis. Aim: This review aims to summarize current knowledge on the epidemiology, etiopathogenesis, and risk factors of schizophrenia,...
Introduction: Increased cannabis use in young adults may influence brain health and neurodevelopment. In the context of chronic HIV-associated neuroinflammation, however, mild cannabis use may attenuate negative outcomes through anti-inflammatory effects. More frequent cannabis use may remain deleterious to both young adults with HIV (YWH) and without HIV (YWoH). We explored cross-sectional...
Cannabis and its primary psychoactive component, Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), are increasingly studied for their pharmacological effects, yet little is known about their pharmacokinetics in non-human primates. This study aimed to characterize the pharmacokinetic profile of THC and its metabolites following oral administration in vervet monkeys under both acute and short chronic exposure...
Abstract Background and Hypothesis Affective instability (AffI) is associated with psychosis, and cannabis use is a known risk factor for psychosis. Previous evidence suggests that AffI may itself be a risk factor for cannabis use. This study aimed to investigate the longitudinal relationship between AffI and cannabis use during adolescence and the development of psychosis in early adulthood....
This Genomic Press Interview features Dr. Gabriella Gobbi, Professor of Psychiatry at McGill University, Canada Research Chair (Tier 1) in Therapeutics for Mental Health, Staff Psychiatrist at the McGill University Health Center (MUHC), and Senior Scientist, Brain Repair and Integrative Neuroscience Program at the Research Institute of the MUHC. Trained in medicine and psychiatry at the...
Given the increasing availability of high-potency Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ9-THC) products, understanding potency-related effects of Δ9-THC on driving performance is an important public safety issue. This randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, within-subjects trial examined the effects of smoked cannabis with varying Δ9-THC concentrations on simulated driving. Adults aged 19–45 who...
Adolescents experience extensive neurocognitive development, with cannabis use potentially impacting developmental trajectories. Here, we comprehensively assess the influence of adolescent cannabis use onset on neurocognitive trajectories and consider how recent delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD) may influence neurocognition. We use the large, diverse longitudinal...
BackgroundCannabis use has increased in recent years, often perceived as therapeutic for psychiatric symptoms including those of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, the relationship between pre-trauma tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) use and development of PTSD symptoms after injury remains poorly defined. The purpose of this study was to determine the association between THC use and...
Cannabis use is associated with psychiatric comorbidities, and the use of elta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD) produces different neurophysiological and pharmacological effects. This study estimated the strength of associations between vaping of THC and CBD with depressive and anxiety symptoms in adolescents. Observational data were drawn from three years of the nationally...
Addictive BehaviorsMarch 1, 2026Rachel L Gunn, Lindy K Howe, Holly K Boyle et al.
Cannabis has shown mixed results in its association with alcohol urge, which may be explained by individual differences. One such factor, working memory capacity (WMC) is associated with drug-related cue reactivity and implicated in alcohol use and problems. In the current study, we examined whether WMC moderates the acute effect of cannabis on alcohol urge in a randomized placebo-controlled...
One of the most robust acute effects of cannabis is impaired memory. Although memory is not a unitary construct, most cannabis research has focused on verbal memory. Less is known about its effects on more ecologically valid domains of memory, such as prospective and temporal order memory. We conducted a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study to map out which aspects of memory are...
PsychopharmacologyMarch 1, 2026Taren Mieran, Andrew Hill, Mark S Horswill et al.
Medicinal cannabis use is increasing worldwide, yet its impacts on driving safety in frequent users are not clearly understood. A more comprehensive understanding of the effects of THC on driving behaviour in frequent users is needed to guide drug driving policy and evidence-based advice for medicinal cannabis consumers. This study investigated the acute effects of orally ingested THC oil on...
Smoked cannabis is known to have effects on cognitive function. The use of edibles is on the rise yet there are few studies of the effects of edibles on cognitive function. Further, most studies of cannabis used fixed laboratory doses which may not capture some of the nuances of more naturalistic doses. Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is the psychoactive component of cannabis yet the...
Cannabis constituents, including Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD), show distinct pharmacological profiles with therapeutic relevance for neurological and psychiatric conditions. THC exerts euphoric effects primarily via CB1 receptor activation, while CBD displays non-euphoric properties affecting various pathways. This study evaluated the effects of THC, CBD, and their...
Background: Endocannabinoid (eCB) signalling is pivotal for brain programming, including the reward system neurodevelopment. Prenatal exposure to Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), cannabis psychoactive component, can perturb eCB tone via CB1 receptor and alter the response to salient stimuli. Aim: We hypothesise that prenatal THC exposure disrupts the eCB-dopamine nexus in the nucleus accumbens...
Purpose of Review The association between cannabis use and schizophrenia is a growing public health concern, particularly in vulnerable populations. This review synthesizes insights from recent studies to investigate how preclinical rodent models can help clarify this relationship. Recent Findings Increasingly advanced paradigms have been developed, including various translationally-relevant...
PsychopharmacologyFebruary 20, 2026Monica S Carbajal, Rebecca C Crenshaw, Victoria E Williams et al.
Cannabis use during 2021pregnancy is common as many pregnant women consider cannabis as a safe way to alleviate symptoms associated with pregnancy because it is "natural". However, clinical evidence links perinatal cannabis exposure to externalizing behavior in offspring. In preclinical research, most studies focus on exposure to the psychoactive constituent of cannabis,...
Perspectives surrounding Cannabis use have transformed over the past decade. This shift in perspective has been noted in pregnant populations in Canada and the US, where various investigations report that the use of Cannabis in pregnancy is increasingly commonplace. There is some evidence indicating that Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main intoxicating phytocannabinoid found within Cannabis...