News
New Study Confirms Weed Relieves Stress
Anecdotal evidence that says that weed chills you out is now officially backed up by science. Thanks, Washington State University!
Today, researchers from Washington State University published a study that confirms that weed relieves stress. They observed the stress levels of daily cannabis users compared to non-users. All of the participants were sober at the time of the study. Because of the results of the study, the age-old claim that cannabis reduces and relieves stress is now backed up by science.
The Study
In order to observe the effect that daily cannabis use has on stress, researchers from Washington State University gathered a group of forty daily users and forty-two non-users and induced stress reactions. They split the participants into two groups, each consisting of half of the daily smokers and half of the non-smokers.
The first group was assigned low-stress activities like submerging their hands in lukewarm water while counting to twenty-five.
The second group was assigned high-stress activities, such as submerging their hands in ice-water and counting backward from 2,043 by 17s. If they made a mistake, they had to start again.
The researchers measured the participants’ level of cortisol in their saliva before and after the activities.
The Results
The cortisol levels among the nonsmokers in the high-stress group were significantly higher than the nonsmokers in the low-stress group.
The daily cannabis users did not exhibit a spike in cortisol levels. It’s important to stress at this point that all participants were completely sober during the study.
Final Hit: Study Shows That Weed Relieves Stress
The results of the study don’t only show that weed relieves stress. Anecdotal evidence has confirmed that for years. The results are revolutionary because it shows that even when sober, chronic cannabis use has a demonstrative effect on cortisol levels. So not only does smoking weed relieve acute stress, it can actually prevent them.
This is an important finding particularly because of the physical toll on the body that stress has. Now that this study is public, it could change the way doctors treat their patients for chronic stress. Will we start to see more physicians and mental health professionals recommend CBD or other forms of cannabis to their patients? Time will tell, but now that there’s a solid study to back it up, there’s a good chance they will.
