Cannabis is a curse or blessing for mental health?

The debate about association between cannabis usage and mental illness is not new. It is only recently, scientific evidence ends – to some extent – much speculation about damages supposed to be caused by weed’s usage.

The phenomenal power of cannabis is evident from its ability to enormously affect human mind. It interacts with mind and impacts it in two ways: first it affects mind’s functioning and second it impacts brain’s growth.

Functioning of brain and cannabis

Any issue with brain’s functioning results in mental illness and causes conditions like anxiety, depression and stress. Now question is does cannabis interrupts normal functioning of brain to cause mental conditions?  Contrary to common beliefs that associate cannabis with abnormal functioning of brain, a recent study shows cannabis protects mind from learning impairment and memory loss by addressing chronic stress. Further, the results also demonstrate its positive affect on cognition.

The study published in Neuropsychopharmacology show an improvement in short memory and learning abilities with THC-like chemical. Dr Akirav, who co-authored the study, found a support for an important connection between marijuana and mental illness. The results of this study show marijuana may be a promising treatment for mind and brain related disorders. It means marijuana is not a cause rather a cure when it comes to mental disorders.

Cannabis and brain’s growth

The human mind keeps growing and doesn’t stop at any particular age. As a matter of fact, brain continuously regenerates cells in adults through a process called neurogenesis. A groundbreaking research from Italy showed a chemical in marijuana cannabichromene (CBC) can help with this process. The research published in the journal Neurochemistry International noted CBC increases the viability of developing brain cells. Worth noting is the point that neurogenesis occurs in a specific area of the brain important for memory and learning. New cells generation is an essential component of brain function and decline in their growth is thought to contribute to a variety of disorders like depression and Alzheimer’s disease.

Truth about claims of mental illness

First, the claims of potential harm associated with using cannabis ignore two important factors.

1)      The age at which one begins to use cannabis. Using cannabis during key stages of brain development can damage its growth and functioning.

2)      The frequency, dose and duration of cannabis intake really matter. With bigger or more potent dose you take more tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) that appears to act on areas of brain involved in our emotional experiences regulation.

What it means? It can be cautiously inferred it’s not cannabis rather it’s the age (specifically under 18) and the way it is used cause harms to mind. In other words, if cannabis is used moderately at an appropriate age the potential harms can be avoided. 

Second, studies exploring the relationship between cannabis use and mental illness ended up with mixed findings. Studies that find a link between mental illness and cannabis usage are severely criticized on methodological grounds. In other words, such studies failed to conclusively establish cannabis causes mental illness.