Psychiatric News (9/29) reported, “Emergency department” (ED) “visits for substance use may be associated with an increased risk of developing a schizophrenia spectrum disorder,” researchers concluded in a study revealed that “people who were seen in the emergency department for cannabis-induced psychosis had the highest risk of transitioning to a schizophrenia spectrum disorder within three years.” The study, which “examined data from more than 9.8 million Ontario residents aged 14 to 65 years between January 2008 and March 2022,” was published online Sept. 27 in a brief report in JAMA Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Emergency Department Visits for Substance Use Linked to Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders, Psychiatric News, September 29, 2023

The New York Times (9/29, Hubler) reported “policymakers in California have been trying for years to change longstanding laws and bring people with severe mental illness in from the streets.” Now, California “is trying a course correction, and one of the most closely watched measures will start” this week. A novel “program known as CARE Court – the acronym stands for Community Assistance, Recovery and Empowerment – will give relatives, health care” professionals “and homeless outreach workers standing to ask state courts to compel certain people with severe mental illness to accept treatment, to be provided by county government.” The new “measure will apply only to untreated people who have diagnoses of schizophrenia or certain other psychotic disorders.”

Related Links:

— “A New Approach for People With Severe Mental Illness,”Shawn Hubler, The New York Times, September 29, 2023

CNN (9/29, McPhillips) reported, “States with the weakest gun safety laws saw the rate of gun suicides jump 39% over the past two decades – from about eight gun suicides for every 100,000 people in 1999 to nearly 12 in 2022, according to” the findings of “an analysis from the nonprofit Everytown for Gun Safety.” In those “states with the strongest gun safety laws,” however, “gun suicide rates decreased slightly over that time – down from 3.6 to 3.4 gun suicides for every 100,000 people.”

Related Links:

— “With gun suicides at record levels in the US, rates differ markedly by state policies on gun safety, new report shows,”Deidre McPhillips, CNN, September 29, 2023

HCPlive (9/28, Derman) reports, “People with schizophrenia or those at a risk for psychosis have deviations in the emotional experience – and view pleasant stimuli less positively than someone who does not have schizophrenia nor is prone to psychosis,” according to a meta-analysis that “included data from 111 emotion-induced studies and 6913 participants.” The results were published online September 27 in JAMA Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “People with Schizophrenia, High Psychosis Risk Experience Fewer Positive Emotions,”Chelsie Derman, HCPlive , September 28, 2023

HealthDay (9/28, Reinberg) reports a study published in the journal Addiction has “found that people with so-called cannabis use disorder may have a 60% higher risk for a heart attack, stroke or other major heart-related event, compared to those who don’t abuse the drug.” The study of “nearly 60,000 cannabis users” revealed that “during eight years of follow-up, 2.4% (721) of people with cannabis use disorder experienced a first-time heart attack, stroke or another major heart event, compared with 1.5% (458) who did not have cannabis use disorder.”

Related Links:

— “Heavy Marijuana Use May Harm the Heart,”Steven Reinberg, HealthDay, September 28, 2023