Flawed Cannabis Mental Health Study Does Not Match Reality

A Dutch study of New Zealand teens has claimed to find an increased risk of developing schizophrenia among those who used cannabis.

However the result was based on just three people.

Norml spokesperson Chris Fowlie said he was "astonished that such a sweeping generalisation can be made from such a small sample."

The study of 759 people born in Dunedin in 1972-3, reported in New Scientist magazine, claimed to have found a 10 percent higher chance of suffering the symptoms of schizophrenia among those who had smoked cannabis three or more times by the age of fifteen, compared to those who had not.

However only 29 of the sample of 759 had used cannabis three times or more by the age of fifteen, and just three went on to suffer schizophrenic symptoms.

"It is simply wrong to claim any sort of result from such a small number of people. This is the same percentage approximately as the margin of error.

"These researchers are living on fantasy island. In the real world, we can see that cannabis use rates are increasing throughout western society, and yet rates of mental illness are falling.

"Using cannabis is normal, with 74% of 21-year-olds in a Christchurch study admitting to using cannabis, and yet we can see they're not all going insane.

"The result these boffins have claimed does not match up to reality."

http://www.norml.org.nz

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