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"The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them."

Albert Einstein

"The Cannabis smoking does not lead directly to mental or physical deterioration."

LaGuardia Commission Report, 1944

"I started on glue and then went to lager and speed. I drifted into heroin because as a kid growing up everybody told me, 'don't smoke marijuana, it will kill you'."

Irvine Welsh

Psychosis and Cannabis

From the Australian Drug Foundation

In general, there appears to be three separate circumstances whereby cannabis and psychosis are linked.

It is believed that cannabis use - especially if heavy and regular - may be linked to a condition known as a drug-induced psychosis or cannabis psychosis. This can last up to a few days. The episodes are often characterised by hallucinations, delusions, memory loss and confusion.

Cannabis use may also precipitate a latent psychosis. In other words, it could bring forward an episode of schizophrenia or manic depressive psychosis in a vulnerable or pre-disposed individual.

It is possible that cannabis use can trigger psychotic episodes in a person who already has a mental illness