(And Harvard University has our backs on this.) Doctors believe schizophrenia is largely genetic, though some environmental factors may trigger its onset. Antipsychotic drugs prescribed to schizophrenics can counteract this protein, reducing hallucinations.Дoes this mean that weed can cause schizophrenia? Absolutely not. Specifically, the mutant version of CHRM3 produces an unusual protein, AChR M3, which is seen at elevated levels in schizophrenic patients. The above mentioned genes are also associated with schizophrenia, a genetically inherited, permanent mental condition marked by hallucinations. And, as you probably already know, dopamine and serotonin are responsible for the trips caused by psychedelics such as LSD, psilocybin mushrooms, and DMT. In mice, we know this variant of CHRM3 tends to come with a total package of other mutant genes including versions of GABAG2, CHRNA4, and HRH3, three genes that regulate dopamine and serotonin production in our brains. So, just as we experience things entirely in our heads while we sleep, part of this dream world may creep into the waking world when people with the CHRM3 mutation smoke weed.Д¬HRM3 is also physically linked, by spatial distance, to other genes that are associated with hallucinations. REM, or rapid eye movement, sleep occurs when we enter the deepest stage of sleep and begin dreaming. What does CHRM3 do, exactly? Scientists are still figuring that out, but one thing itвЂ™s responsible for is regulating our REM sleep cycles. So, Harry Anslinger: Eat your heart out, buddy. And get this: the CHRM3 gene responsible for causing hallucinations likely originated in European populations, not African ones. Subjects who reported seeing, smelling, or hearing things вЂњthat werenвЂ™t really thereвЂќ all shared one thing in common: a mutation in the CHRM3 gene, a gene responsible for a whole bunch of wild shit. The subjectsвЂ™ answers were compared to their gene sequences. Then, they asked the subjects, вЂњBecause of your marijuana use, did you ever experience any of the following: Hearing, seeing or smelling things that werenвЂ™t really there?вЂќ The researchers collected DNA samples from over 9,000 American subjects - roughly half of European descent and the other half of African descent. The State University of New York Downstate Medical Center also contributed.

The study, published Monday in Translational Psychiatry, was a massive joint research project with Yale University, Washington University, Indiana University, Boston University, and the University of PennsylvaniaвЂ™s Schools of Medicine. However, scientists recently discovered a critical gene mutation in people who say they trip from weed, indicating that, yes, weed can act as a hallucinogen in some people. Marijuana is sometimes described as a hallucinogen, which may seem like Reefer Madness garbage to most tokers.

Weed hallucination