Study: Marijuana Use Does Not Cause Anxiety or Depression

https://blog.mpp.org/research/study-marijuana-use-does-not-cause-anxiety-or-depression/

New research published today in the journal JAMA Psychiatry found that using marijuana as an adult is not associated with a variety of mood and anxiety disorders, including depression and bipolar disorder.

This is a challenge to some previous research which has shown that marijuana use is associated with depression and anxiety.

The researchers examined the records of nearly 35,000 U.S. adults who participated in the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions. They examined the prevalence of marijuana use among the study participants in 2001 and 2002, then checked on the participants’ rates of mental-health problems three years later in 2004 and 2005.

After controlling for a variety of confounding factors, such as socio-demographic characteristics, family history and environment, and past and present psychiatric disorders, the study found that “cannabis use was not associated with increased risk for developing mood or anxiety disorders.”

The new study adds to prior research discrediting the connection between marijuana and common mental-health disorders. And it’s important, because much of the federal government’s current literature on marijuana includes claims about links between marijuana and depression that are inaccurate in light of the latest findings.