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Updated: Jun 5, 2026

Brain Morphology of Cannabis Users With or Without Psychosis: A Pilot MRI Study
Published on: August 18, 2020
Association between cannabis and psychiatric hospitalization
C D Schubart1, M P M Boks, E J Breetvelt
1Rudolf Magnus Institute of Neuroscience, Department of Psychiatry, University Medical Center, Utrecht, The Netherlands. c.schubart@umcutrecht.nl
Objective:
To investigate the relationship between cannabis use and mental health.
Method:
A cross-sectional analysis in a sample of 17 698 individuals with a mean age of 22 years (SD: 4.2). Participants provided information on the amount and initial age of cannabis use and history of psychiatric hospitalizations through a web-based questionnaire. To quantify Δ(9) -tetrahydrocannabinol exposure, we operationalized cannabis use as the amount of money spent on cannabis per week over the last month. The odds ratio of having a history of psychiatric hospitalizations was the primary outcome measure.
Results:
We found a dose-response relationship between the amount of cannabis use and the odds for psychiatric hospitalization. Adjusted odds ratios for hospitalization increased with the amount of cannabis consumed from 1.6 (95% CI: 1.1-2.3) in incidental users to 6.2 (95% CI: 4.3-8.9) in heavy users (>€25/week). Our data suggested that concomitant drug use was an intermediate factor. Exposure to cannabis before the age of 12 years was found to carry a 4.8 (95% CI: 2.9-7.8) times increased odds for past psychiatric hospitalizations.
Conclusion:
We conclude that early and heavy uses of cannabis are each and independently associated with poor mental health in its users.
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