Public health bodies like to cite the supposed link between cannabis and depression.
But those claims, it seems, do not stack up.
Scientists conducting a major new study involving nearly 35,000 people have concluded that regular smokers of the ‘erb are no more likely to become depressed or develop an anxiety-related disorder than those who do not.
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In the journal JAMA Psychiatry, researchers published their findings after they investigated the levels of cannabis use among 35,000 adults in the US and the occurrence of mental health problems three years later.
Their conclusion, which is that weed causes neither depression nor conditions related to anxiety (such as bipolar disorder), challenges previous and long-held ideas on the effects of cannabis use. The study did not investigate whether marijuana can cause schizophrenia or accelerate the development of schizophrenia in those already predisposed to it, as it is often claimed to do.
Five universities and medical institutions in the US and France collaborated for the study. They did find that cannabis users are at an increased risk of cigarette, alcohol and drug dependence.
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