Researchers have found new support for their theory that cannabis use causes a temporary cognitive breakdown in non-psychotic individuals, leading to long-term psychosis

Researchers have found a different brain activity pattern in schizophrenia patients with previous cannabis use than in schizophrenic patients without prior cannabis use. The results reinforce the researchers' model where cannabis users suffering from schizophrenia actually may have higher cognitive abilities than non-cannabis using schizophrenics. This difference may indicate that the cannabis-user group did not have the same mental propensity for psychosis. While brain activity for both groups was similar, there are subtle differences between schizophrenia sufferers with a history of cannabis use and those who have never used cannabis. These differences lead us to believe that the cognitive weakness leading to schizophrenia is imitated by the effects of cannabis in otherwise non-psychotic people. The research implies that it is the cannabis use itself that leads otherwise non-psychotic individuals down the nightmarish path towards schizophrenia by imitating the cognitive weakness that is the main risk factor for developing the psychological condition.