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Chapter 30 - Cannabis Addiction Genetics

from Part VIII - Special Topics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 May 2023

By
Suhas Ganesh  and
Arpana Agrawal
Edited by
Deepak Cyril D'Souza ,
David Castle  and
Sir Robin Murray
Deepak Cyril D'Souza
Affiliation:
Staff Psychiatrist, VA Connecticut Healthcare System; Professor of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine
David Castle
Affiliation:
University of Tasmania, Australia
Sir Robin Murray
Affiliation:
Honorary Consultant Psychiatrist, Psychosis Service at the South London and Maudsley NHS Trust; Professor of Psychiatric Research at the Institute of Psychiatry
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Summary

Cannabis use and cannabis use disorder (CUD) are heritable (~50%) complex traits closely linked to multiple neuropsychiatric syndromes. The largest genome-wide association studies have begun to identify variants that contribute to this heritability. These discoveries have started yielding answers to longstanding questions in the fields of mental health and substance use related to comorbidity and causal influence of cannabis use and CUD on other neuropsychiatric syndromes. The genetics of cannabis use appears to relate positively to psychosocial outcomes while CUD genetics map more closely to lower educational and socio-economic characteristics. The genetics of cannabis use and CUD considerably overlap with that of other substance use disorders and are being elucidated through very large genome-wide association studies. Similarly, the relationships between cannabis use, psychosis, depression, anxiety, externalizing syndromes and neurodevelopment are also being uncovered using novel genetic methods. In this chapter, we review these exciting advances in the light of pre-existing evidence from twin and family studies.

Keywords

cannabis usecannabis use disorderheritabilitygeneticsGWAScomorbidity
Type
Chapter
Information
Marijuana and Madness , pp. 321 - 332
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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References

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  • Cannabis Addiction Genetics
  • Edited by Deepak Cyril D'Souza, Staff Psychiatrist, VA Connecticut Healthcare System; Professor of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, David Castle, University of Tasmania, Australia, Sir Robin Murray, Honorary Consultant Psychiatrist, Psychosis Service at the South London and Maudsley NHS Trust; Professor of Psychiatric Research at the Institute of Psychiatry
  • Book: Marijuana and Madness
  • Online publication: 12 May 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108943246.031
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  • Cannabis Addiction Genetics
  • Edited by Deepak Cyril D'Souza, Staff Psychiatrist, VA Connecticut Healthcare System; Professor of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, David Castle, University of Tasmania, Australia, Sir Robin Murray, Honorary Consultant Psychiatrist, Psychosis Service at the South London and Maudsley NHS Trust; Professor of Psychiatric Research at the Institute of Psychiatry
  • Book: Marijuana and Madness
  • Online publication: 12 May 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108943246.031
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  • Cannabis Addiction Genetics
  • Edited by Deepak Cyril D'Souza, Staff Psychiatrist, VA Connecticut Healthcare System; Professor of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, David Castle, University of Tasmania, Australia, Sir Robin Murray, Honorary Consultant Psychiatrist, Psychosis Service at the South London and Maudsley NHS Trust; Professor of Psychiatric Research at the Institute of Psychiatry
  • Book: Marijuana and Madness
  • Online publication: 12 May 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108943246.031
Available formats
×