Recently Michigan became the 10th state to legalize recreational cannabis use. Others will soon follow. A shrewd lobbying campaign has made us more tolerant of marijuana. Is there a downside to this? Yes!
Psychiatrists have reached a consensus that recreational marijuana presents more serious risks than people realize. Research from Finland and Denmark shows a significant increase in psychosis since 2000 following an increase in cannabis use. Last September a large survey found a rise in serious mental illness in the U.S.
Although none of these studies prove that rising cannabis use has caused increases in mental illness, it is clear that in individual cases marijuana can cause psychosis. As time goes on the mental illness and violence that follows the use of medical marijuana may become too widespread to ignore.