Specific psychiatric symptoms during cannabis use and their relation to psychotic disorders

Background and objectives: Cannabis use is an increasing phenomenon worldwide and represents a controversial issue, as it has direct implications in the development of psychosis. There are no widely accepted tools of evaluating the risk for users and therefore no prevention strategies. As psychosis and schizophrenia are two major psychiatric disorders, developing a screening tool is of great need. The current study evaluates the feasibility of the cannabis experience questionnaire 6 (CEQ-6) questionnaire as a screening tool for cannabis users that are at high risk of developing psychosis or schizophrenia. Methods: In this study, 400 patients were selected from the Drug Addiction Department of the Cluj County Emergency Clinical Hospital. The cohort was divided into three groups: patients with cannabis use, but with no current or previous history of cannabis-induced psychotic disorders; patients with current or previous history of cannabis-induced psychotic disorders, and patients diagnosed with schizophrenia having a positive history of cannabis-induced psychotic disorders. Results: There are several items of the CEQ-6 questionnaire that can be linked with the risk of developing psychosis and schizophrenia—auditory hallucinations during use, feeling disinhibited after use, and the sensation of understanding the world better during use. Furthermore, some items can be used for assessing the risk of schizophrenia in patients with cannabis-induced psychosis. Conclusions: The study shows a possibility of utilizing CEQ-6 as a screening tool for identifying users at high-risk of psychosis. This is an important step toward prevention in the general population as the scale can be applied outside the psychiatric setting.