Living with a medical condition can easily alter ones mood, and medical marijuana (cannabis) users who consume this natural medicine may have depression associated with their symptoms, but do marijuana users in general have depression?
This study evaluated 4,400 adult users via the internet by completing The Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression scale and measures of marijuana use. Comparisons were made between those who consumed daily, those who consumed once weekly or less, and those who had never consumed marijuana in their lives.
All individuals who were users, regardless of frequency, had less depressed mood and more positive affect than non-users.
A separate analysis between medical and recreational marijuana users showed that medical users had more depressed mood and body symptoms, suggesting that it is the medical condition itself, and not marijuana usage, which is associated with depression.
They stated: “These data suggest that adults apparently do not increase their risk for depression by using marijuana”.
