Study shows adolescent and adult smokers are no less motivated

New research once again shatters the lazy stoner stereotype, or unmotivated cannabis syndrome theory, showing instead that both teenage and adult cannabis users are “no less likely” to be motivated, nor are they less likely to show interest in rewards.

“Cannabis amotivation syndrome” is a hypothesis that has been tossed around by commentators in the media for years, suggesting that regular cannabis use can lead to apathy or decreased motivation and anhedonia or loss of interest in rewards.

These perceived effects on motivation are part of the hysteria surrounding cannabis use by developing teenagers. NORML Associate Director Paul Armentano wrote for High Times about “the media’s absurd hysteria about teenagers and pot,” adding that claims like amotivational syndrome are often made up or grossly exaggerated.

But this new study looked at both apathy and anhedonia levels, measured in controls, to determine if stoners really are less motivated — as often portrayed in the media.

The study was published August 24 in the International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology.

A team led by scientists from University College London (UCL), the University of Cambridge and the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience at King’s College London investigated whether and not cannabis users exhibited higher levels of apathy and anhedonia compared to controls they were less willing to exert themselves physically to receive a reward.

The research was part of the CannTEEN study, which also looks at other factors affecting teenage cannabis use. 274 adults and adolescents who had smoked or used weed at least weekly were selected for the study.

“Our results suggest that cannabis use three to four days per week is not associated with apathy, effort-based decision-making for reward, desire for reward, or desire for reward in adults or adolescents,” the researchers concluded, but with lower levels of anhedonia in users, but with a “small effect size”.

Martine Skumlien, a PhD student in the University of Cambridge’s Department of Psychiatry, immediately noted the unfounded claims made about how cannabis is portrayed in the media.

“We were surprised to see that there was really very little difference between cannabis users and non-users when it came to lack of motivation or lack of enjoyment, even among those who used cannabis every day,” Skumlien said. “It goes against the stereotypical portrayal we see on TV and in movies.”

“There was a lot of concern that cannabis use in adolescence might lead to poorer outcomes than adult cannabis use,” said Dr. Will Lawn from the Department of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience at King’s College London. “But our study, one of the first to directly compare adolescents and adults who use cannabis, suggests that adolescents are no more vulnerable than adults to the deleterious effects of cannabis on motivation, enjoyment, or the brain’s response to reward .”

“In fact, it appears that cannabis has no connection – or at most only weak associations – with these findings in general. However, we need studies looking for these associations over a long period of time to confirm these results.”

More than half of the study participants performed multiple tasks, with one rating for physical exertion. Participants had the opportunity to press buttons to win points, which were later exchanged for chocolates or sweets. There were three difficulty levels and three reward levels, as more difficult trials required faster button presses. Each test gave the participant a choice of accepting or declining the offer, and points were only awarded if the test was accepted and completed.

A second task measured how much pleasure they felt from rewards. The researchers found “no difference between users and non-users, or between age groups, on either the physical exertion task or the true reward-pleasure task, confirming evidence from other studies that found no or very little difference.”

Other recent studies are also shredding the theory of cannabis amotivational syndrome.

A previous study titled “Exertion-Based Decision-Making and Cannabis Use in College Students,” published Jan. 27 in Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology, also disputes the theory of cannabis-induced amotivational syndrome and finds no evidence to support it.