The Big Lebowsk-Lie: Cannabis and Motivation
We’ve all seen the stereotype about cannabis and motivation. Cannabis users like “The Dude” in The Big Lebowski or Tommy Chong in That 70’s Show (or just about anything else) get so high that their interest and motivation nosedive significantly. But a new study published in the International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology demonstrates that no such link between cannabis and motivation exists.
“There’s been a lot of concern that cannabis use in adolescence might lead to worse outcomes than cannabis use during adulthood,” said Dr. Will Lawn, one of the study’s co-authors. Researchers from University College London, the University of Cambridge, and King’s College London collaborated on the research project. “But our study… suggests that adolescents are no more vulnerable than adults to the harmful effects of cannabis on motivation, the experience of pleasure, or the brain’s response to reward.”
Aside from cannabis and motivation, the researchers also wanted to investigate cannabis’ effect on anhedonia (which is a loss of interest and/or reduce pleasure from rewards), and whether cannabis made them “lazier”. The study compared 274 adult and adolescent cannabis users who used cannabis at least once per week for three months with non-users. The researchers paired the two groups by age and gender.
The results: no statistically significant different on any of the three measures including cannabis and motivation. If anything, cannabis users were slightly happier.
“We were surprised to see that there was really very little difference between cannabis users and non-users… even among those who used cannabis every day,” said Martine Skumlien, another research on the project. “This is contrary to the stereotypical portrayal we see on TV and in movies.”
Cannabis and Motivation Not the Only Concern – LPC
Although the findings about the links between cannabis and motivation – or lack thereof – are interesting, it’s not the whole story. Cannabis use among adolescents may not affect their interest or motivation, but cannabis use can affect brain development and lead to mental health issues. This is a big part of the reason why legalizing cannabis in Canada was so important – legalization helps keep cannabis out of the hands of youth.
On the other hand, research like this helps break cannabis stigma. Some would argue that this is a much more important social problem because of its links to cannabis and racism as well as criminalization of cannabis users. More cannabis research like this is needed so that everyone has the facts about cannabis benefits and risks.
Read the Full Story at CTV or See the Study Here
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