High Truths on Drugs and Addiction, Episode #77
Research has shown that high-potency cannabis leads to an increased risk of psychosis, especially for those who have a genetic predisposition for the condition. But what happens when cannabis alters your epigenome? What if that cannabis use can alter how your genes function and further increase that risk of psychosis and schizophrenia? Dr. Roneev Lev sits down with renowned psychosis researcher Dr. Marta Di Forti to talk about how high-potency cannabis can induce psychosis.
Dr Marta Di Forti is a Clinical Reader in Psychosis Research at the Dept of Social, Developmental and Genetic Research, Institute of Psychiatry, and Honorary Consultant Adult Psychiatrist, Lambeth EI Community team, South London and Maudsley NHS foundation Trust. She leads the first Cannabis Clinic for patients with Psychotic disorders in UK. She was recently awarded the Royal College of Psychiatrist Researcher of the year prize. In 2020 she was granted a MRC Senior Research Fellowship to expand her research in the role of cannabis use in psychosis and its underlying biology. Her future work aims to investigate the interaction between cannabis use and genes predisposing to schizophrenia, and how cannabis changes the epigenome.