Smoking weed does not decrease motivation, as study results show

Politicians, doctors, and concerned parents often argue that regular cannabis use undermines a person’s motivation and makes them unable to fully devote themselves to life. Psychiatrists have even given this supposed phenomenon an official-sounding name – “marijuana amotivation syndrome”. According to this theory, cannabis can reduce motivation and prevent users from focusing on anything that requires intense focus.

However, despite the strength of these statements, there is little conclusive scientific research that actually supports these claims. A recent study found a link between cannabis use and lack of motivation in college students, but other research has found that amotivation syndrome and increased cannabis use are actually symptoms of depression, a condition that affects more than one in ten American teenagers .

A team of researchers from Florida International University conducted a new research study to see if there really was evidence of a link between underage cannabis use and amotivational syndrome. The researchers recruited 401 adolescents, ages 14-17, and asked them to complete five assessments within two years.

At each session, the young people were asked to report their use of cannabis, nicotine and alcohol. The subjects also completed two self-assessment questionnaires, the apathy evaluation scale and the motivation and commitment scale. These two standard assessment tools assess the volunteers’ commitment and interest in school, work and social life as well as their motivation to plan future events.

On average, total cannabis use by adolescents increased significantly over the course of the two-year study. The researchers also found that as they got older, most subjects showed an increasing lack of commitment and a desire to plan for the future. But after checking the effects of gender, age, depression, and alcohol use, the researchers found that cannabis use actually did not lead to a decrease in motivation.

“Despite a significant increase in cannabis use in our sample, the change in cannabis use did not predict any changes in motivation, suggesting that cannabis use may not lead to a decrease in motivation over time,” the study authors wrote, according to NORML.

At first glance, teenagers who smoked weed showed less commitment and planning than teenagers who stayed completely sober. However, after checking the variables of age, gender, depression, and other drug use, the researchers found that these variables fully explained these amotivational aspects. In other words, depression, alcohol, and other factors were linked to significant decreases in motivation, but cannabis use was not.

After considering these other variables, the researchers found only one significant association between cannabis use and motivation: teenagers who smoked weed were less likely to say they appreciated their schooling. This correlation does not prove that cannabis diminishes the perceived value of education, but it could suggest that cannabis-using adolescents are more critical of the educational system, or possibly just engaging in a standard form of adolescent rebellion.

“Our results do not support a prospective association between cannabis use and decreased motivation in adolescents,” concluded the study, which was recently published in the Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society.

“Modern science is setting the record, revealing much of the ‘cooling madness’ of the past few decades,” NORML’s deputy director Paul Armentano said in a statement. “Unfortunately, many of these myths are still prevalent in our society and are often raised by politicians to justify the failed marijuana ban and stigma policies. It is time America put these myths aside and adopt a cannabis policy based on facts, not fears. “

Now that researchers are increasingly able to study cannabis, clinical trials are debunking even more of these cooler madness myths. A study recently published in the Journal of Affective Disorders reports that cannabis use does not increase the risk of depression or suicide in adolescents, and other studies have also disproved the long-standing myth of the “gateway drug”.