Kings College London is set to undertake a revolutionary new £2.5 million study looking into the effects that cannabis has on the brain. The study hopes to reveal why the reasons why some users of the drug seem to suffer from paranoia and cannabis psychosis while others do not. In due time, studies like this one will hopefully allow for the drug to be better used medicinally and provide recreational users with more information on what the drug is actually doing to their bodies.
Official data complied in 2022, suggests that Cannabis is the UK’s most popular drug, with over two million people using. The main aim of the study is to determine why some people feel happy and relaxed on the drug, while some become paranoid. As well as obvious social factors like trauma and past experiences, the doctors believe that it may also be DNA my also be a factor; due to the way the cannabis it metabolised in each users body differently.
At present thought the study has failed to attract enough black or asian users, so runs the risk of not producing results reflective of the diverse range of users of the drug. Fears of how the data may be used, and a lack of faith in the establishment is likely why the study as failed to attract the broad demographic it needs to be successful.