Clinical Trials
Largest cannabis study ever in the UK
The largest ever independent study of its kind is about to be embarked on by researchers from King’s College London, involving cannabis. The team working on the Cannabis & Me study will use data collected from 6,000 participants with varying degrees of history with the substance, including those who have never interacted with cannabis at all as a baseline.
The study is very broad and purports to be researching the effects of cannabis on the ‘brain and the body’. It is a £2.5 million undertaking, using specialist techniques that have not been widely available until recent years such as virtual reality, DNA testing and psychological analysis. This should help doctors to find tell-tale markers in a patient thhat reveal whether they may be at risk from health issues after using cannabis, especially psychosis.
Cannabis study: A unique opportunity
Dr Marta Di Forti is one of the most highly regarded physicians working in the field of cannabis and psychosis, and is also the lead on this project.
Thanks to the Maudsley Charity and her published papers on psychosis attributed to cannabis use, she has developed the first and only clinic in the UK that specialises in that area.
An MRC Senior Clinical Scientist Fellowship was awarded ti Dr Di Forti in 2020, which according to her biography “provides a unique opportunity to bring together genetics, epigenetics, peripheral levels of cannabinoids and endocannabinoids, alongside Virtual Reality social scenario-exposure data from current heavy cannabis users and young adults suffering their first psychotic episode.”
Some cannabis activists are concerned that there is an inherent bias in the Cannabis & Me study due to Dr Di Forti’s past role at the clinic she helped found, and papers that she has published in the past, suggesting she may favour a conclusion that suggests that there is a direct causal link between psychosis and cannabis use.
Speaking to online publication leafie, Dr Di Forti addressed the issue: “This is a fair point, though my research does not develop from my own beliefs on cannabis but from my interaction with the young people I see in my clinic every week, the questions they raise, their doubts and concerns. I am aware that this group of young people represent a minority among cannabis users and not all.
“Nevertheless, it is the minority I care for as a clinician and for whom I am committed to make a difference. This is why my research has focused on the link between cannabis use and psychosis, not because I believe this is the full story. I guess if I were a liver physician who sees patients with liver cirrhosis and alcohol dependence I would be focusing on the adverse effects of alcohol use, despite the fact not everyone who drinks alcohol develops problems.”
To better understand the biology of cannabis and its interactions
“The focus of this new study is to welcome all current cannabis users, in fact, I am interested primarily in those using cannabis for medicinal or recreational use who are coming to no harm but indeed getting from it only pleasure/benefit. Ultimately, we shall compare not only psychological but also biological data that might help to explain why a minority of cannabis users develop psychosis and how we can screen them apart from everyone else. This might allow us to understand better the biology of how cannabis compounds interact with our endocannabinoid system, genetic and epigenetic to produce the variety of effects we see, the one I am concerned about and the one you are interested in.”
Concluding, Di Forti welcomed the questions from the cannabis community and committed to sharing the findings. “I welcome always the opportunity to exchange ideas and criticism can only improve my work. This research is open to those who in fact disagree with what my work has shown so far and I hope that it will create more collaboration from both sides of the argument rather than further divisions. We can advance science only if we collaborate.”
London residents between the ages of 18 and 45 are encouraged to apply for the study if they are either currently active cannabis users, or very rarely use cannabis at all.
