Psychopharmacological Boundaries of Schizophrenia with Comorbid Cannabis Use Disorder: A Critical Review

Judit      Lazary

doi:10.2174/138161212802884654

Abstract

Although cannabis use disorder is strongly related to schizophrenia and treatment of patients with double diagnosis provides serious problem, specific pharmacological, molecular and therapeutical data on this subgroup are poorly available. In this paper we present a critical review on psychopharmacological boundaries of schizophrenia with concurrent cannabis use. The relevant data available in the literature suggest that a weaker compliance, poorer therapy response and higher sensitivity for extrapyramidal side effects are key features of schizophrenia and comorbid cannabis use disorder and represent a clinical challenge. Because of paucity of available research in the field there is not enough evidence to clearly depict the exact psychopharmacological profile of cannabis related schizophrenia. Further investigations are needed to assess phenotypic characteristics of this entity and to tailor effective treatment options accordingly.

Keywords: Double diagnosis, schizophrenia spectrum disorder, cannabinoids, psychiatric comorbidity, substance use disorder, phenotypic characteristics, cannabis use disorder (CUD), Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale, Clinical Global Impression (CGI), double-blind study.