The more cannabis you smoke, the more likely you are to be a loser, finds international study

• Persistent users likely to be lower paid and have relationship difficulties
• Research found abusers ended up in a lower social class than their parents
• Also more prone to be in less skilled, prestigious jobs and to run into debt
• Study by Californian university followed children from birth up to age of 38

By Alexander Robertson 

International research has revealed that the more cannabis you smoke, the more likely you are to be lower paid and have relationship difficulties.

The study followed children from birth up to the age of 38 and found people who smoked cannabis four or more days a week over many years ended up in a lower social class than their parents.

It also found that regular and persistent users ended up with lower-paying, less skilled and less prestigious jobs than those who were not regular cannabis smokers.

Financial, work-related and relationship difficulties were further experienced by those taking the drug, which worsened as the number of years of regular cannabis use progressed.

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Research has revealed that the more cannabis you smoke, the more likely you are to be lower paid and have relationship difficulties (stock photo)

The study, conducted by a team of researchers led by Magdalena Cerda at the University of California and Avshalom Caspi and Terrie Moffitt at Duke University, appeared in the journal Clinical Psychological Science.

'Our research does not support arguments for or against cannabis legalization,' said Cerda. 'But it does show that cannabis was not safe for the long-term users tracked in our study.

'Our study found that regular cannabis users experienced downward social mobility and more financial problems such as troubles with debt and cash flow than those who did not report such persistent use.

'Regular long-term users also had more antisocial behaviors at work, such as stealing money or lying to get a job, and experienced more relationship problems, such as intimate partner violence and controlling abuse.' 

Researchers claimed the study was important as it addresses an array of 'potentially confounding factors' not included in past studies assessing cannabis' long-term effects on users.

Economic and social problems persisted in long-term, regular users of pot even after the authors accounted for other potential differences between regular cannabis users and other participants.

These factors included socioeconomic problems in childhood, lower IQ, antisocial behavior and depression in adolescence, higher levels of impulsivity, lower motivation to achieve, criminal conviction of cannabis users, and abuse of alcohol and hard drugs.

'These findings did not arise because cannabis users were prosecuted and had a criminal record,' said Caspi, a psychologist at Duke University and King's College London.

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The study followed children from birth up to the age of 38 and found people who smoked cannabis four or more days a week over many years ended up in a lower social class than their parents (stock photo)

'Even among cannabis users who were never convicted for a cannabis offense, we found that persistent and regular cannabis use was linked to economic and social problems.'

While both heavy alcohol and cannabis use were similarly associated with declines, the authors found that those dependent on cannabis experienced more financial difficulties.

'Cannabis may be safer than alcohol for your health, but not for your finances,' said Moffitt. 

For the study, 947 participants who had completed at least three of the five adult cannabis assessments from ages 18 through 38. 

Eighteen percent, or 173 participants, were considered marijuana dependent in at least one wave of the study, and 15 per cent fell into the regular cannabis use categories.