Psychotic pot users 'in vicious circle': "Pot smokers suffering from the early stages of schizophrenia are stuck in a vicious cycle of drug abuse and psychotic attacks, an Australian study has found. Research by the University of Melbourne found that the more marijuana a psychotic person used, the worse their condition got. And once they suffered a relapse in delusions and hallucinations they were more likely to turn to marijuana to cope. The work, published in the latest British Journal of Psychiatry, tracked 81 Queenslanders who had developed a psychotic mental illness in the past six months. The subjects were typically male, aged in their early 20s, single, unemployed and addicted to marijuana. Researcher Dr Leanne Hides monitored their drug use and mental condition weekly over six months, discovering that almost all were caught up in a vicious cycle that was impossible to escape."