Drug Induced Schizophrenia

By Leo Gura - April 6, 2025

Consuming cannabis once in your life increases your chances of developing schizophrenia by 2x. Consuming cannabis 50+ times increases your chances of developing schizophrenia 6x. Use of amphetamines like Adderall and Ritalin increases chances of psychosis and schizophrenia. Although rare, drugs like these can induce permanent and irreversible psychosis hardly distinguishable from schizophrenia. Adolescent exposure has greater risk than adult exposure. Cannabis is more dangerous for inducing schizophrenia than psychedelics. So watch out.

Schizophrenia is a highly genetic disorder, but it can be triggered by drugs. If you have mental instability you should be very cautious with cannabis and amphetamines. Schizophrenic psychotic breaks cause permanent brain damage, so they should be avoided as much as possible. Check if anyone in your extended family has a history of schizophrenia, psychosis, or mental illness, and if so, you should be super careful with cannabis and amphetamines.

The legalization of weed is going to create many more schizophrenics.

I strongly advise against chronic weed use. Recreational weed is not a good thing.

Note: Even with 6x increased risk, schizophrenia is still quite rare, so don’t freak out. Amphetamines are also good for some people. I am not telling you to stop taking your medication if it works for you. I am talking about people with genetic susceptibility to schizophrenia, which is rare. This information will only be relevant to a small fraction of people, so don’t misunderstand its meaning.

Click Here to see ALL of Leo's juicy insights.