Treating Depression and Anxiety With Marijuana

When looking for a silver lining in the American electorate's ever changing stance on marijuana, two things often come to mind. 1) Medical marijuana and legalized recreational use will keep countless Americans out of jail or prison. 2) The loosening of the legislative grip on marijuana allows for some long awaited (previously impossible) research to be conducted. The findings of which will hopefully lead to more informed decisions regarding the use of cannabis.

Marijuana, like alcohol, is often used as a stress reliever at the end of a long day of work. While the stereotypical “pot” smokers are teenagers and young adults with Bob Marley shirts and healthy appetites, your average pot smoker is often the farthest thing from that picture. In fact, with the lightening of policies related to marijuana, we can now see a more accurate picture of cannabis users, free from what is portrayed in Hollywood. And what is being seen is college freshmen to businessmen partaking in marijuana use.

More American adults than ever can now easily access marijuana, so it is vital that they know the risks. When people think about the risks associated with cannabis use, cognitive and memory problems often come to mind. But, past research has found connections between heavy cannabis use and mental illness, especially among teenagers and young adults. Users beware!

There are also many pot smokers who use marijuana to self-medicate anxiety and depression. However, it has long been uncertain how effective marijuana is for treating mental illness, and it is likely that the drug may actually worsen one’s symptoms. Researchers at Colorado State University conducted a questionnaire-based analysis of 178 college-aged, legal users of cannabis to shed some light on how the drug affects emotional processing, KDVR reports. The findings were published in PeerJ.

The researchers found that people who use cannabis to treat their depressive symptoms, had less anxiety but were more depressed, according to the article. Those who used the drug to lessen anxiety symptoms had fewer symptoms of depression, but were more anxious.

The findings are important, and hopefully will influence some people’s choice to use the drug for alleviating symptoms of depression or anxiety.

Heavy Cannabis Use Compromises Brain's Dopamine System

Marijuana, despite what many will claim, is not a benign substance and carries the risk of addiction. All over the country, more and more people are in favor of doing away with marijuana prohibition, in favor of both medical and recreational marijuana legislation. This fall, a number of states are expected to vote on legalizing the controversial drug. Whether legalization is a good or bad thing is up for debate; however, the change in stance on marijuana has allowed for research that was previously impossible to conduct.

In recent years, a number of studies have been conducted dealing with cannabis use and the drug's effect on the brain. If we are going to vote on the legality of a drug, it is crucial we have all the facts. It turns out, that marijuana’s impact on the brain may not be too dissimilar to other, more dangerous drugs. New research suggests that heavy cannabis use compromises the brain's dopamine system, Science Daily reports. Heavy cannabis use can impact the striatum - the region of the brain responsible for working memory, impulsive behavior, and attention. The findings were published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry.

"In light of the more widespread acceptance and use of marijuana, especially by young people, we believe it is important to look more closely at the potentially addictive effects of cannabis on key regions of the brain," said lead author Anissa Abi-Dargham, MD, professor of psychiatry (in radiology) at Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC). 

The researchers used positron emission tomography (PET) on 11 adults severely dependent on cannabis and 12 matched healthy controls, according to the article. The heavy cannabis users had significantly lower dopamine release in the striatum, compared to the controls. Lower dopamine release was associated with worse performance on learning and working memory tasks.

"We don't know whether decreased dopamine was a preexisting condition or the result of heavy cannabis use," said Dr. Abi-Dargham. "But the bottom line is that long-term, heavy cannabis use may impair the dopaminergic system, which could have a variety of negative effects on learning and behavior."