Clinical Implications and Limitations
CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS
Among those who have ever taken cannabis, 1/10 are at risk of dependence.
Heavy cannabis misuse leads to the risk of psychotic episodes, and aggravates the symptoms and course of schizophrenia.
For any psychiatric patient, risk-management and care-planning is incomplete without a thorough assessment of substance misuse.
LIMITATIONS
The available literature shows a preponderance of case reports and uncontrolled studies.
Epidemiological findings from one setting cannot be assumed to generalise to other cultural groups.
It is not easy to determine causal explanations from the studies cited.