Lifetime cannabis use disorder is not associated with lifetime impulsive behavior and severe violence in patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders from a high-security hospital

The link between substance abuse, impulsivity, and violence in psychotic patients remains unclear. In this author podcast, Gabriella Gobbi, MD, PhD, and Stefano Comai, PhD, discuss their study, which was designed to assess whether cannabis use disorder is associated with violent and/or psychotic behavior in patients who are hospitalized in a high-security hospital. The findings show that cannabis and alcohol are often abused (by themselves or together) by psychotic patients with a propensity for violence, but only alcohol is associated with impulsive and violent behavior. The article is published in the November-December 2021 issue of the Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology.