Researchers claim schizophrenia and cannabis use share several genes

Jun 24, 2014 09:33 GMT  ·  By
Researchers have reasons to believe that there is a genetic link between schizophrenia and cannabis habit
   Researchers have reasons to believe that there is a genetic link between schizophrenia and cannabis habit

According to a recent investigations whose findings were published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry this June 24, schizophrenia and cannabis use share a genetic link.

Thus, researchers with King's College London in the United Kingdom say that, according to evidence at hand, the same genes that up schizophrenia risk make an individual more likely to become a cannabis user.

Simply put, it is likely that being genetically predisposed to schizophrenia also means that a person has higher chances to become a regular cannabis user in later life.

As detailed by EurekAlert, this claim is based on information obtained while looking at the genetic profile of as many as 2,082 people. Of these people, 1,011 admitted to having used cannabis, or to having an active cannabis habit.

In their paper, the King's College London specialists detail that, of the individuals' whose genetic profile they analyzed, those who had a genetic predisposition to schizophrenia were more likely to be cannabis users.

Besides, those who carried genes associated with an increased schizophrenia risk were found to have a sweeter tooth for cannabis, meaning that they consumed more of this drug than individuals who did not possess said genes.

Interestingly enough, this discovery follows a series of studies showing that cannabis consumption can in itself make a person more vulnerable to schizophrenia.

Commenting on these findings, researcher Robert Power says, “We know that cannabis increases the risk of schizophrenia. Our study certainly does not rule this out, but it suggests that there is likely to be an association in the other direction as well.”

Furthermore, “Our study highlights the complex interactions between genes and environments when we talk about cannabis as a risk factor for schizophrenia. This is an important finding to consider when calculating the economic and health impact of cannabis.”