--- title: 'Skunk-like' Cannabis Increases Risk of Developing a Psychosis description: One in four new cases of psychotic disorders could be linked to the use of high-potency “skunk-like” cannabis, a new study has found. canonical: https://time.com/3711513/skunk-cannabis-marijuana-psychosis/ author: Helen Regan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-02-17T05:47:46.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:59:53.744Z article:section: Science og:title: 25% of New Psychotic Disorders Linked to 'Skunk' Cannabis og:description: The risk is five times higher for those who use it every day compared with non-users, says study. og:url: https://time.com/3711513/skunk-cannabis-marijuana-psychosis/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcc0e3ca0251534c3/69877f8c428a9efb09cc72b0/skunk-cannabis-study.jpg?branch=production&width=725&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 725 og:image:height: 408 og:image:alt: 157427601 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 25% of New Psychotic Disorders Linked to 'Skunk' Cannabis twitter:description: The risk is five times higher for those who use it every day compared with non-users, says study. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcc0e3ca0251534c3/69877f8c428a9efb09cc72b0/skunk-cannabis-study.jpg?branch=production&width=725&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # A Quarter of New Psychotic Disorders Linked to 'Skunk' Cannabis, Study Says > Sponsored content. 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Future Proof is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-futureproof-2026q3/newsletters?i=8faea971-3544-4e73-beb8-57a1009413cc&cr=time-nl-futureproof-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Inside A Christian Pot Shop [Watch (HLS stream): Inside A Christian Pot Shop](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/vz4fpqkC.m3u8) (5:22)  _Published 2014-04-03. Bryan and Lanette Davies run a Christian medical marijuana dispensary in Sacramento. After God told Bryan to open a cannabis shop, the couple say they have been doing God's work in providing natural care to the sick._ by [Helen Regan](https://time.com/author/helen-regan/) ## Helen Regan Feb 17, 2015 5:47 AM UTC  joint joint Nicholas Belton—Getty Images by [Helen Regan](https://time.com/author/helen-regan/) ## Helen Regan Feb 17, 2015 5:47 AM UTC One in four new cases of [psychotic](http://www.bbc.com/news/health-31480234) disorders could be directly linked to the use of high-potency “skunk-like” cannabis, a new study has found. Researchers from King’s College London [found](https://docs.google.com/viewer?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thelancet.com%2Fpb%2Fassets%2Fraw%2FLancet%2Fpdfs%2F14TLP0454%5FDi%20Forti.pdf) smokers of super-strength cannabis, colloquially known as skunk, were three times as likely to develop symptoms of a psychosis than those who don’t use the drug, the BBC reports. That risk increases to five times as high if the user smokes skunk on a daily basis. “The results show that psychosis risk in cannabis users depends on both the frequency of use and cannabis potency,” said Dr. Marta Di Forti, lead author of the study. However, the team found that milder varieties of cannabis such as hashish did not increase the risk of psychotic illness. Psychosis refers to hallucinations or delusions that can be found in certain psychiatric conditions such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. _Read next:_ [_Driving While Stoned Is Much Safer Than Driving Drunk, Says a New Study_](http://time.com/3706491/driving-stoned-drunk-study-safety/?xid=time%5Freadnext) [_Listen to the most important stories of the day._](http://time.com/newsletter/the-brief/?sl%5Fautoplay=true&xid=spl-fullbrief-article) ## Transcript Good morning, Sacramento. This is Bryan Davies and Lanette Davies. [ INAUDIBLE ] I normally just pray, thank you lord, thank you lord, thank you lord. Thank you lord, for this chance. Thank you, lord, for everything. Thank you lord that it's a blessing that Lanette is. I have a fear of praying and asking for something. Since you're praying against his will, you're praying for evil. Well at this point in time I start praying, please help me, Lord. Help me, Lord. Tell me what to do. I need to get back in the business. I need to do something to be able to earn money. He said, open up a pot shop. And the Lord said, who are you not to do my will? [ MUSIC ] This has absolutely has been a ministry that has been ordained by God. So it is a christian dispensary, however, it is run by christians. Not all my employees are necessarily christian. It is not something that I require from them. Many people will stop because they are offended not by the marijuana but by the christianity. And it's a strangest thing. I was pissed that they open it up. It was not only embarrassing to me, it was this is, this is wrong, what are you doing? LIke I don't wanna be a part of it. When God told me to open up a cannabis shop, I go on the internet. [ SOUND ] They told us to target men between the ages of 20 and 30 years old because they'll spend the most on cannabis. We had a competitor, who used to have Bikini Wednesday. [ LAUGH ] Instead, I have a huge amount of elderly that are coming by and, you know, they've been taking handfuls, poundfuls of pharmaceuticals and getting sicker off of the pharmaceuticals! And they come over and say, do you have anything on this disease, or this disease. Or, are there any studies on this, and how do I get a cannabis recommendation? This has been, the whole time, has been an education process, so that people could take a look at a patient, and not see a stoner. Oh, you work there, that means that you get high all the time. It's like actually, no, we don't. We have people that come in here and they have cancer, and some of the people die. A lot of 'em were Christians and believers who were pissed at God. Yeah. So that's my whole Sunday Prayer started here. In the name of my lord, Jesus Christ, if any evil is in this room, may the lord rebuke it. I'm always watching the clock like, is it six o'clock yet? Cuz I'm eager to pray. And we pray for everyone. Even patients join in on our prayer. We wanna thank you for Lanette, Teva, Joe, Jeff, Ronnie [ CROSSTALK ] We've actually had employees that didn't want to participate for whatever reason [ UNKNOWN ], and it's okay. We're not here to judge you, one way or another. Hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come. I've been coming here for four years, and I'm a very satisfied customer. [ INAUDIBLE ] You know what I'm saying, you cannot judge people for sinning differently than you. Amen. Amen. Thank you. [ CROSSTALK ] And that one lady, and what she said was, God's God and you know what, I've got cancer and I need all the prayers I can get. [ MUSIC ]. I think our court case is something that God has provided for us as an opportunity. We did keep completely clean records. Everything was absolutely done correctly, to the point that we did pass that audit with flying colors. Cana Care owes the IRS more than $ 800, 000 in income taxes. At issue is this 1982 law, that bans the deduction of expenses for trafficking and controlled substances. They allow you to take the cannabis as your deduction, but they disallow you all the legal expenses. So the IRS came back and said give us 194, 000 and they will drop everything, and I said no, I wanna go to court. But then they make this deal with you, if you give us a couple extra percent of gross sales, this all goes behind you. [ MUSIC ]. So is it illegal federally or is not illegal federally? Because you'll allow us to stay in business if we give you more money. [ MUSIC ] Crusaders For Patients Rights is my organization. It's kinda my, basis of what I do. Remove federal barriers for medical and scientific cannabis research, and create [ CROSSTALK ]. We have no problems putting together a protest. And we actually have done protests at the federal court building and we've done candlelight vigils. But even now, churches have even come on board. There are several of them that have actually said, you know, we don't have a problem with medicinal cannabis. They have none. As a matter of fact, they wanna have those options open. I use cannabis at night. I usually use a pipe, a small amount, and it usually is, you know, a couple of tokes and I go to bed. He has a pretty gnarly disease. He have [ UNKNOWN ]. I had never seen him sleep through a night until Cannabis. Until he used Cannabis. I had never seen him sleep through a night. And we were married 25 years. I go straight back to, you know, God created this as a man made herb. It is a medicine. And it works as a medicine. And when it comes down to it, God's commandment to us is to take care of the sick and ill. Let me ask you this, did God create pot? I know he did. [ CROSSTALK ] Created everything. And you know what I know about God? He is still working with you. I would not do, it if I didn't endorse what we were doing here. If I thought for one minute, that this was not the way that he wanted us to go. I would not be here. I'm always worried about being a negative reflection on christianity, because it's not what we wanna do, but at the same point, I would be negatively not following God's commandments. If I didn't take this stance and work it. 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