High potency cannabis use, mental health symptoms and cannabis dependence: Triangulating the evidence.
Kat Petrilli, Lindsey A. Hines, Sally Adams, Celia J. A. Morgan, Helen Valerie Curran, Tom P. Freeman
Addictive Behaviors September 2023 DOI: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2023.107740 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Cross-sectional study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 410 |
| Population | Users of cannabis who donated a cannabis sample for analysis |
| Topics | Addiction Cannabis |
| Keywords | Cannabis dependence Cannabis potency Mental health |
| Key findings | Preference for high-potency cannabis was associated with a slightly increased risk of cannabis dependence (OR = 1.16, 95% CI 1.04-1.28) after adjusting for confounders except use frequency, but THC concentration in donated cannabis was not associated with dependence. Evidence for associations with depression and anxiety was weak and small, and no association was found with psychosis-like symptoms. |
Abstract
Cannabis potency (concentration of Δ-9-Tetrahydrocannabinol) has been associated with risks of adverse mental health outcomes and addiction but no studies have triangulated evidence from self-report and objective measures of cannabis potency. We hypothesised that users of high potency cannabis would have higher levels of (a) anxiety, (b) depression and (c) psychosis-like symptoms (d) cannabis dependence than users of lower potency cannabis. A cross-sectional study of 410 participants donated a sample of cannabis for analysis of THC concentration and reported their cannabis potency preference. These two exposure measures were investigated for their association with cannabis dependence, depression, anxiety, and psychosis-like symptoms in separate linear/logistic regression models. High potency cannabis preference was associated with a slight increased risk of cannabis dependence after adjusting for confounding, with the exception of cannabis use frequency (OR = 1.16, 95% CI 1.04-1.28). No association was found between THC concentration in cannabis and cannabis dependence. There was weak evidence of a small association between cannabis potency and depression and anxiety. There was no association between high potency cannabis preference or THC concentration in cannabis and psychosis-like symptoms. Users of cannabis who preferred high potency types might be at increased risk of problematic cannabis use. This should be considered with caution as we were not able to triangulate these results with an objective measure of cannabis potency. More research is needed to understand the association between high potency cannabis use and depression and anxiety.
Comparable studies
Other cross-sectional and survey studies on cannabis for addiction, most cited first.
Citations in the library
Cites 8
- Which biological and self-report measures of cannabis use predict cannabis dependency and acute psychotic-like effects? Psychological Medicine September 4, 2018
- Risk factors for the onset of dependence and chronic psychosis due to cannabis use: Survey of patients with cannabis‐related psychiatric disorders Neuropsychopharmacology Reports September 7, 2020
- Association of cannabis potency with mental ill health and addiction: a systematic review. The Lancet Psychiatry September 2022
- A within-person comparison of the subjective effects of higher vs. lower-potency cannabis. Drug and Alcohol Dependence November 1, 2020
- The contribution of cannabis use to variation in the incidence of psychotic disorder across Europe (EU-GEI): a multicentre case-control study The Lancet Psychiatry May 1, 2019
and 3 more in the library