Many individuals often subjectively report the consumption of marijuana (cannabis) and it’s primary component THC, as valuable for individual subjective stress relief. But just how well does that subjective opinion reflect actual results? Pretty well, but it’s dose related.
In this double-blind randomized study, 42 healthy volunteers participated in two experimental sessions. One was a psycho-social stress and another was a non-stressful task. They received oral capsules 2.5 hours before the tests, which either contained 0 mg, 7.5 mg, or 12.5 mg of THC.
Compared to placebo, consumption of 7.5 mg of THC produced significant self reported reduction of stress in response to the test, and the post task appraisal. By contrast, the consumption of 12.5 mg of THC increased overall negative mood, and the task appraisal was considered to be threatening and challenging.
Low dose THC consumption for stress relief may be no different in concept than other medications for the same goal. After all, experience tells us that just because a small amount of a medicine works well doesn’t mean that a lot is better.
