Using medical or recreational marijuana to ease symptoms of numerous mental health conditions doesn’t work, according to two new analyses of existing gold-standard research.
Medical marijuana includes products with cannabidiol, or CBD, and delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the part of the plant that produces euphoria.
“We found no evidence any form of cannabis is effective in treating anxiety, depression or post-traumatic stress disorder, which are three of the leading reasons for which cannabis is prescribed,” said Jack Wilson, a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Sydney’s Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use.
