A new study conducted in Canada investigated changes in health service utilization and incident cases of psychotic disorders following cannabis legalization in Canada, especially during a period of strict restrictions on retail stores and product types.
Cannabis has been identified as a risk factor in the onset and persistence of psychotic disorders. The legalization of non-medical cannabis in Canada raised concerns about potential population-level impacts on psychotic disorders.
A cross-sectional interrupted time-series analysis was conducted using linked population-based health administrative data from Ontario, Canada, spanning from January 2014 to March 2020. The study focused on identifying psychosis-related outpatient visits, emergency department visits, hospitalizations, inpatient length of stay, and incident cases of psychotic disorders among individuals aged 14 to 60 years.
“The analysis did not reveal evidence of increases in health service utilization or incident cases of psychotic disorders over the short-term, covering a 17-month period following cannabis legalization. However, the study did identify clear increasing trends in health service utilization and incident cases of substance-induced psychotic disorders over the entire observation window from 2014 to 2020”, study noted.
The findings suggest that the initial phase of tight market restrictions following the legalization of non-medical cannabis was not associated with an increase in health service utilization or the frequency of psychotic disorders.
However, the study acknowledges the importance of a more extended post-legalization observation period, encompassing the expansion of the commercial cannabis market, to comprehensively understand the population-level impacts of non-medical cannabis legalization. Therefore, it would be premature to conclusively assert that the legalization of non-medical cannabis did not lead to increases in health service utilization and incident cases of psychotic disorders.
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