I believe my sister's mania is caused by prescribed cannabis

My sister is in the midst of a severe manic episode. Her bipolar has been managed well with medications for the past 15 years. Last time she ended up going on a 'mission' based on delusions she was having and ended up being arrested for committing multiple felonies. This time the narrative she is creating is very similar to the one from 15 years ago.

Medical cannabis was recently legalized in Minnesota where she lives. She was prescribed medical cannabis by her psychiatrist earlier this year. She started having delusions a few months after starting it.

I have been worried about her getting in trouble again. I called her psychiatrist to let him know that I personally have experienced long lasting cannabis induced psychosis and that I also learned from a dna test that I have a genetic trait common to people who are prone to cannabis induced psychosis.

He doesn't seem to think that cannabis can have an impact on mental health. He mentioned Reefer Madness a few times and seems to be of the belief that the only marijuana causing psychosis in anybody is marijuana laced with something.

I feel like I'm talking to a person who can't see the obvious in front of him. Is there anything I can do here? It seems to me this psychiatrist is acting irresponsibly.

In my experiences of being a member and moderator of this website, and posting in the Bipolar and modding the Schizophrenia forums, I know regular marijuana can cause severe psychosis. However, I'm not sure if there is a difference between marijuana people get on the streets versus the marijuana a doctor prescribes. The best thing to do, if you're concerned, is maybe talk to another psychiatrist, or even a regular doctor. Another thing you can do is some research on Google. I'm not familiar with medical marijuana at all, but does it have a certain, kind of odd name (like most medications)? Maybe you could Google the side effects of it.

Regrettably, I totally agree with you. Marijuana can have many good effects for some people but there are others who can literally lose their grip on reality on it.

All of my psychoses were when I was consuming marijuana (including medical cannabis). All of my manic episodes were when I was consuming marijuana. I finally decided to give it up. I was also on a mission like your sister in the last one and ended up in serious legal trouble (still am). After a lot of grief I've come to the regrettable conclusion that marijuana is plain old dangerous to the mental health of some fraction of the population... those individuals who are prone to psychosis. There are quite a few studies indicating this but there is nothing like personal experience.

You are probably going to have a hard time convincing your sister to switch psychiatrists, which seems like the only reasonable option if he or she dismisses out of hand a connection. If your sister gets committed then it is likely that the doctors in the hospital will advise against cannabis and once she is off it she will recover.

Was she on marijuana 15 years ago?