Washington State University has released a new study claiming that marijuana could be used to help people struggling with mental health.
Battling Mental Illness
The higher education institution's work was featured in The Journal of Affective Orders. The team suggested that if people who struggle with their mental health consume marijuana, they would be able to reduce their anxiety, depression, and stress. However, the scientists also said that if people did use it, the marijuana would only temporarily work. If users continued to take the drug, they would find that their depression would become worse over time.
The Two Strands Of Marijuana
For their experiment, the team focused on how the chemical compounds on two strands of marijuana would affect their research volunteers. The strands that were used in this experiment were tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD). The research team wanted to see how users, both male and female, would react to the two strands outside of a laboratory.
The Experiment's Findings
The research team found that one puff of marijuana that was high in cannabidiol but low in tetrahydrocannabinol was essential to reducing depression. They also found that two puffs of cannabis helped decrease symptoms of anxiety. If participants inhaled 10 or more puffs of marijuana that had a potent combination of both cannabidiol and tetrahydrocannabinol, massive amounts of stress were eliminated.
The scientists charged their users to keep track of their emotions through an app called Strainprint. Strainprint instructed the users to document how much they smoked and how they felt after a 20-minute time frame. By the time the experiment was over, the research team led by Claire Cuttler, a clinical assistant professor of psychology at Washington State University, collected over 12,000 anonymous Strainprint users for depression, anxiety, and stress.
"This is to my knowledge one of the first scientific studies to provide guidance on the strains and quantities of cannabis people should be seeking out for reducing, stress, anxiety, and depression. Currently, medical and recreational cannabis users rely on the advice of bud tenders whose recommendations are based off anecdotal not scientific evidence," said Cuttler to Science Daily.
Cannabidiol
NPR has reported that there is high interest in cannabidiol. People want to consume cannabidiol because it does not contain tetrahydrocannabinol, which creates mind-altering effects that are experienced with marijuana. Also, there are various forms of CBD products that people can take based on their preferences. This includes CBD teas, capsules, balm, oil and many more. While cannabidiol brought an estimated $200 million in sales, researchers believe that there should be clinical trials to see the exact effects that cannabidiol has on users.
Marijuana In The News
Marijuana has been heavily featured in the health headlines. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine released a statement on April 15 in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine regarding medical marijuana and people with sleeping disorders such as sleep apnea. The organization believes that people who suffer from sleep disorders should avoid using medical cannabis because they believe that there is not enough evidence that the drug could help people who suffer from sleep disorders.
On April 19, an FDA advisory committee unanimously recommended the approval of Epidiolex. If the FDA does approve of this medicine in June, the drug would be the first marijuana-derived medicine that will help children suffering from different forms of epilepsy.
The Center for Disease Control released a study that found that workers who are employed in food and accommodation industries are more likely to consume cannabis. The investigation also revealed that men consumed more marijuana then women and that Caucasians consumed cannabis more likely than Hispanics.
