The consumption of THC-dominant cannabis products is associated with sustained reductions in anxiety and depression, according to an abstract of the study, Acute and chronic effects of medicinal cannabis use on anxiety and depression in a prospective cohort of patients new to cannabis, which appears in the Journal of Affective Disorders.
Investigators affiliated with the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland, USA, assessed the use of state-authorised medical cannabis products in a cohort of 33 participants with clinically significant anxiety or depression. Subjects in the study were naïve to cannabis. Study participants used a variety of cannabis products, including botanical and edible preparations, as needed for six months.
“Initiation of THC-dominant medicinal cannabis was associated with acute reductions in anxiety and depression, and sustained reductions in overall symptom severity over a 6-month period”, researchers reported. Improvements in patients’ quality of life and overall health satisfaction were also observed. Medicinal cannabis use was not associated with the development of physical or psychological problems.
“Collectively these data offer insights into the therapeutic effects of medicinal cannabis when it is used by a population with clinically significant anxiety and depression”, the study’s authors concluded. “The positive response, reflected by reductions in anxiety and/or depression by most participants, support the need for continued investigation of medicinal cannabis or related cannabinoid therapeutics as pharmacological treatments for anxiety and depression symptom relief, ideally with randomised, placebo-controlled trials”.
Source: NORML
13 July, 2025