(Mirror Daily, United States) – According to the latest research, marijuana use doesn’t cause depression or anxiety. The study, published in the journal of Psychiatry JAMA concluded that there is no obvious link between the recreational drug and disorders like depression, anxiety or even bipolar disorder.

The study comes as a challenge to previous ones that have showed a clear link between the anxiety disorders and the use of the recreational drug.

In order to reach these conclusions, the researchers studied the records belonging to approximately 35,000 adults from the United States. The patients agreed to participate in the National Alcohol Related Conditions Epidemiologic Survey. The team focused on the prevalence of cannabinoid substances use among the study volunteers in between 2001 and 2002. The researchers then proceeded to check any mental health problems that the participants complained about in between 2004 and 2005.

The data collected was then confronted with external factors like family environment and history and any psychiatric disorders that the patients suffered from in the past.

The conclusion of the scientists was that marijuana use doesn’t cause depression or anxiety. The news is encouraging from this point of view, but there were additional findings that link marijuana use with other destructive behaviors.

According to the study, individuals who consumed marijuana or other cannabinoid substances were more likely to develop a drinking or a drug habit, then those who didn’t. The researchers stated that the results are not that surprising seeing as a previous exposure to such substances indicates a predisposition to substance abuse.

Mark Olfson, lead author of the study and researchers at the University of Columbia says that a drug is often associated with another. For example, if you are a smoker than a beer is not the same without a cigarette. He also added the fact that alcohol use might be a contributor to later disorders related to substance abuse.

When asked about the previous studies that showed a link between marijuana and anxiety disorders Olfson responded that the studies did not take into consideration the external factors like family and previous psychiatric disorders.

Olfson’s study disproves the link between marijuana and depression. This means that one of the main arguments against legalization is no longer valid thanks to him and his team.

The news that marijuana use doesn’t cause depression or anxiety comes as a big argument in favor of the drug’s legalization. And the policy regarding the wondrous plant is ever-changing these days.

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