I rarely see an article that impresses me as much as the Psychiatric Times piece on psychosis risk and cannabis by Dr. Fawad Taj, MD.
It makes sense that he is also a consultation-liaison psychiatrist. He’s on staff in the Dept. of psychiatry at University Hospitals of Cleveland. There is a highly esteemed scholar special to me in the department. She’s a former trainee of mine, Dr. Jeanne Lackamp, MD. In fact, she is currently Chair of the Dept. of Psychiatry at University Hospitals. I couldn’t be prouder. Way back in 2006, she was the resident sponsor nominating me for the Leonard Tow Humanism in Medicine award at University of Iowa Health Care.
Anyway, Dr. Taj’s point that today’s marijuana is not your grandfather’s pot is well taken. It’s far more potent than decades ago. He’s quotable:
“Psychiatry should also be able to hold 2 ideas at once. One can oppose overly punitive criminalization and still acknowledge that normalized, commercialized, high-potency cannabis exposure may carry real psychiatric consequences. Those positions are not contradictory. Responsible public health policy requires both. Cannabis may now be legal across much of the United States. It may be profitable, packaged, and culturally normalized, but it is not harmless.”-Dr. Fawad Taj.
Go Retire Psychiatrist 