For several years now, many states across the country have been slowly decriminalizing marijuana, as 24 of them have legalized cannabis for recreational use, including California. However, more and more research into marijuana use, particularly among youth, suggests a link between it and a rise in the number of people suffering from psychosis.
Research by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) has found that people who use cannabis are four times more likely to develop chronic psychosis or schizophrenia compared to non-marijuana users. The risk increases to six times more likely if the user smokes every day or uses higher-potency products.
Psychosis refers to a collection of symptoms that affect the mind, characterized by a loss of contact with reality. People with psychosis can experience hallucinations and delusions, and other symptoms can include incoherent or nonsensical speech. It can be driven by substances including vaping high-potency marijuana or trauma, which in turn can cause schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and depression. Repeated use can cause permanent damage.
There have been studies by the NLM that may point to a link between vaping and psychotic experiences. A 2021 study examined more than 29,000 college students and found that roughly 14% reported psychotic experiences over the past year, and between 14-15% reported vaping over the past month.
The increase in the number of stores that sell cannabis has played a factor in this as well. A 2025 study co-authored by Kaiser Permanente Northern California and Getting it Right from the Start, a program of the Public Health Institute, found that teens who live in areas with more cannabis retailers face significantly higher rates of mental health issues.
With a sample size of approximately 96,000 insured adolescents, data showed that teens who lived in areas that banned cannabis storefronts or both storefronts and deliveries were significantly less likely to have a recent diagnosis of a psychotic disorder. But in areas with greater retail availability, there were significantly higher rates of diagnosed psychotic, depressive and anxiety disorders.
“This research adds to growing evidence that greater availability of cannabis may be contributing to increased mental health risks among adolescents,” said Dr. Kelly Young-Wolff, a clinical psychologist and research scientist at the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research. “Local policies that restrict cannabis access could play an important role in preventing harm.”
Lawsuits Against Stiiizy
In recent years, there have been lawsuits alleging that potent cannabis products induced psychosis when they were minors, at least one of which is still ongoing. In one suit filed in May 2024, an unnamed high school student alleged that cannabis brand Stiiizy used “deceptive marketing tactics” to sell its high-potency products among the youth.
In the suit, the student, identified as John Doe, was “unhappy at school” and saw Stiiizy products on social media that promoted wellness and relaxation. The student, approximately 15 years old at the time between 2020 and 2022, was an athlete at a “prestigious school in Marin County” with a “4.6 GPA.”
Over time, the student went from vaping a couple of times a week to every morning before school. He stopped smoking for a month during a family vacation, but when he arrived home, the suit alleges that he began demonstrating “erratic behavior and, ultimately, signs of psychosis.”
In August 2022, the student had a violent outburst before school, where he held a knife to his throat before he was wrestled to the ground by his father. He was later taken to a psychiatric ward where, believing people were out to kill him, he escaped by jumping out a window half-naked. Shortly after, he appeared in his school’s principal’s office, saying aliens were out to get him.
The former student continues to suffer from mental health issues, the suit said, and doctors told the family there was a 90% chance of permanent psychosis if he ever consumed cannabis again.
Another suit against Stiiizy was filed in December 2024 – which held another status conference earlier this week – by a high school student, also identified only as John Doe. The suit alleges that this student, also an athlete, chose to use Stiiizy vapes “because they were slick, the designs were cool and sophisticated, the product was easy to use discreetly and the flavors were appealing to him and popular among his teenage friends as well as in the Stiiizy marketing and promotion he saw.”
Similar to the previous suit, this student believed using the vapes would help reduce his sadness and alleviate his anxiety and stress, the suit alleged. But in March 2022, in the middle of the night, the student was found shirtless and wet from jumping into a pool and later told an officer that a girl from school involved in witchcraft put a curse on him.
Ten months later, the suit continued, the student was standing outside his parents’ car and asking them if he could bring a girl home and gestured to the empty space beside him to introduce them to her. The following day, he confronted his parents, locked his mother in his parents’ bedroom and shouted that he “controlled” her.
The plaintiff continues to have mental health issues, that suit stated, and has had to get academic accommodations in order to succeed with his studies.
Doe said his time using Stiiizy products “damaged my physical and mental health and all my relationships and altered my educational and career trajectory. I want to prevent others from experiencing what I have experienced.”