Katharina Buczek
But, this study not only undermines the “stoner” stereotype of adults. It also provided the researchers with more clarity on adolescent cannabis use outcomes– because, apparently, cannabis did not augment any difference between anhedonia and apathy.
And Dr. Will Lawn of the King’s College London Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neuroscience described why this is a groundbreaking discovery.
“There has been a lot of concern that cannabis use in adolescence might lead to worse outcomes than cannabis use during adulthood. But, our study– one of the first to directly compare adolescents and adults who use cannabis– suggests that adolescents are no more vulnerable than adults to the harmful effect of cannabis on motivation, the experience of pleasure, or the brain’s response to reward,” Dr. Lawn explained.
Moreover, the researchers believe these findings about both adolescents and adults can be crucial to increasing the effectiveness of harm reduction and cannabis education.
“Unfair assumptions can be stigmatizing and could get in the way of messages around harm reduction. We need to be honest and frank about what are and are not the harmful consequences of drug use,” said Martine Skumlien of the University of Cambridge.
Still, the researchers underscored that further long-term research– particularly spanning from the onset of adolescence through young adulthood– is needed to definitively conclude that cannabis use will not negatively impact brain development or motivation.
To read the study’s complete findings, which have since been published in the International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology, you can visit the link here.
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