Study: Regular cannabis use not associated with anhedonia (What is anhedonia?)

Through Lydia Karuki

The relationship between anhedonia (the inability to enjoy things or activities) and regular cannabis use has been controversial, as previous studies have produced conflicting results. It doesn’t help that every negative psychosocial trait attributed to the reefer craze during the dark era of cannabis prohibition still persists.

If you grew up in the ’80s and saw “Your Brain on Drugs,” you might be able to relate to it. For many decades, marijuana has been “guilty as accused” when it comes to every negative social and psychological trait. But a new study has shown the opposite.

The study, published in the International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology, showed a zero relationship between anhedonia and regular cannabis use. The researchers used data from a previous study that looked at cannabis use among teenagers, called the CannTeen study.

Photo by Andre Hunter via Unsplash

The researchers studied 274 participants, including adults (26-29 years) and adolescents (16-17 years). The participants were regular cannabis users who had used cannabis in the past three months, with an average use of four times per week. The Snaith Hamilton Pleasure Scale was used to measure anhedonia while the Apathy Evaluation Scale was used to measure apathy.

The results showed that the control group (those who did not use cannabis or did not use it regularly) had higher levels of anhedonia. This was quite surprising and contradicted the popular belief that regular cannabis use reduces one’s enjoyment of life.

RELATED: Want a higher quality of life? Use cannabis daily, says a new Brazilian mental health study

Most of the effects of marijuana as a whole and individual cannabinoids depend on several things, including dosage, gender, body weight, and developmental window of exposure, among others.

In addition to this evidence, Cambridge University recently published a paper showing that adolescent cannabis users are more likely to “lack a lack of motivation and the ability to enjoy life’s pleasures”. This shows that the stereotypical cannabis user as often portrayed by the media is not scientifically based. The study was conducted by researchers from UCL, Kings College of London Institute of Psychiatry and Neuroscience and the University of Cambridge. The results were published in the International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology. According to the research, regular cannabis users had slightly lower scores for anhedonia.

Photo by Edu Lauton via Unsplash

RELATED: Why does cannabis make you so happy? Meet anandamide

One of the researchers, Martine Skumlien, expressed disappointment at the stereotype of calling it lazy. “We’re so used to seeing lazy stoners on our screens that we keep asking if they’re an accurate representation of cannabis users. Our work implies that this is a lazy cliché in itself.”

Other studies that have highlighted a similar result include the following:

With the above thought in mind, it would be beneficial to conduct a follow-up study to substantiate these findings. All in all, the science of medicinal cannabis is evolving every day for the benefit of mankind.