Cannabis research drags women down

Research on cannabis "depreciates" women, because scientists direct their studies only to men, say experts.

Two drug researchers reviewed years of scientific literature on the link between medication and psychosis, which can lead patients to suicide.

In a damning verdict, they said "we are still unable to say that cannabis causes psychosis", despite decades of expensive research.

And they discovered a "gender bias," warning that the link between psychosis and cannabis in women is currently a mystery due to lack of education.

Ian Hamilton, head of study and based at York University, told MailOnline: "Research is failing women.

"We should spend money on research to improve the information we have about the risks women face when they use cannabis.

"The research conducted to date is totally biased towards men, a situation that has not been improved primarily by the control of men."

The search for existing literature, published in Current Psychiatry Reports, was a review of dozens of scientific studies.

A large body of research, dating back a century, already exists to establish a connection between smoking cannabis and psychosis, which often causes hallucinations.

However, the review suggested that the evidence to say that cannabis acted as a causal factor of the disease "has not been established so far."

Mr. Hamilton, who reviewed the literature with Mark Monaghan of the University of Birmingham, said, "Research must go beyond men."

He warned that no knowledge about the link between cannabis and schizophrenia would be gained unless experts started to include women in their studies.

In defending previous studies, Hamilton said, "For researchers, it is much easier to get patients on treatment because they are already there.

"But the problem is that there are more men than women on treatment, so this is in addition to this distorted view of cannabis and psychosis."

"We do not know enough about young women. He added that it would be "remarkable" if they were immune to the risk of psychosis.

"I think a lot of money has been wasted to duplicate research that is trying to find and identify a causal link between cannabis and psychosis," he said.

& # 39; But it will never happen. It's too complicated. Instead, money should be spent to determine the proportion of women at risk.

Mr Hamilton said it was "clearly important" that researchers study the risks for women, not just for men, because of their consumption.

According to the British Crime Survey, about one in 10 women consume cannabis – the most widely used recreational drug in the world.

Possession of the class B drug carries an unlimited fine and a maximum penalty of five years imprisonment, while dealers are liable to 14 years imprisonment.

Discussing sexism, he told MailOnline: "In reality, too many male researchers are observing male cannabis users."

Hamilton added that "we know very little about the risk of psychosis for women who use cannabis."

He admitted that he knew his opinion was "obvious and stupid", adding that too many experienced researchers investigating cannabis were men.

Mr. Hamilton said, "If women in leadership positions directed the research, they would bring a woman's point of view."

According to the NHS, cannabis is a drug "known to trigger psychotic episodes". Cocaine, ecstasy and ketamine are others.

A powerful cannabis "skunk" invading the streets of Britain multiplies by five the risk of psychosis, revealed a major study in March.

The problem is so prevalent that nearly a third of psychosis cases in London are caused by drugs, according to researchers at King's College London

They warned that 94% of all cannabis available on the streets of the capital now came in the form of skunk – grown on purpose for high THC content.

More and more voices are being heard for cannabis to be legalized in Britain, mainly because of the government's decision to make it medically available last year.

Some supporters, including former Deputy Prime Minister Sir Nick Clegg, believe that legalization of mild forms of the drug would prevent people from buying the skunk rich in THC.

But studies have suggested that the potency of strains in Canada and the United States, where cannabis is legal in some areas, has actually increased.

In 2017, Hamilton was behind a study suggesting that the risk of developing psychosis resulting from smoking cannabis was much lower than expected.

But he said studies have clearly shown that the more weeds are strong, the more likely one is to develop mental health problems.