Solitary tokers might want to ask themselves some hard questions the next time they feel like lighting up.
A recent study has found people who use cannabis alone are more prone to problems such as psychosis and dependence.
“If you do use cannabis, you want to consider like, OK, if I am going to be using tonight and I am alone, why am I using, for example,” said Toni Spinella, a master’s student in neuroscience at Dalhousie University.
“It kind of makes you more aware of your motives and if you realize I’m using because I’m sad or I’m using to cope with my stress or cope with this, that would kind of be a sign that, ‘Hmm, maybe I should really take a step back and reconsider what’s going on in my life.’”
Spinella co-authored the study — with her supervisor Dr. Sean Barrett and Dr. Sherry Stewart, a clinical psychologist and addictions expert at Dalhousie — that surveyed 188 cannabis users recruited in the Halifax area.
The respondents, who were 44 per cent female and 55 per cent male, ranging in age from 18 to 59, were asked a series of questions about the social context of their most recent occasion of cannabis use, as well as their patterns and motives for use.
“As we had expected, individuals who reported using by themselves during their last cannabis using occasion were more likely to screen positive for psychosis, they endorsed more symptoms of cannabis abuse and dependence compared to social users,” Spinella said in a recent phone interview and email exchange.
The association of marijuana with psychosis might surprise some people, but she said it’s been regularly demonstrated in previous research.
“High ingestion of a lot of THC, the primary ingredient in cannabis, that has been shown to induce acute or short-term psychosis symptoms, hallucinations, that kind of thing. However, that tends to go away once the drug exits your system.”
But long-term use of cannabis has been associated with the development of clinical psychosis or psychotic symptoms that do not go away when the drug leaves your system, “and that’s where the brain changes come in,” she said.
Solitary users reported using using cannabis to cope with problems more so than group users. The solitary tokers reported using on 25 days within a 30-day period, compared with 12 days on average for social users, “so you can see quite a big difference there,” Spinella said.
While those who used cannabis with other people were significantly less prone to psychosis and dependence problems, social users shouldn’t be complacent.
“Those who had reported social use during their most recent cannabis-using occasion were nearly three times more likely to use another substance at the same time (co-substance use/polysubstance use, specifically alcohol),” she said.
“We had originally hypothesized the opposite, that solitary users would be more likely to use other substances with cannabis because it was in line with our other predictions associating solitary cannabis use with riskier patterns of behaviours and outcomes.
“It is likely that this finding reflects the impact of social and contextual factors on substance use (e.g. if you were at a party surrounded by alcohol and people drinking you might be more ‘cued’ to drink by smells, taste and environment versus if you were at home by yourself).”
Spinella emphasized that the study didn’t reveal any direct cause and effect relationship in the exploration of the social context of marijuana use. But she said the potential adverse consequences of cannabis use, whether in a solitary or group context, should be part of the conversation, particularly given the legalization of cannabis in Canada.
“I think knowledge is power for everyone, and I think the more knowledge, the more informed your decisions can be about substance use should you decide to use cannabis at any point.”
A recent study has found people who use cannabis alone are more prone to problems such as psychosis and dependence.
“If you do use cannabis, you want to consider like, OK, if I am going to be using tonight and I am alone, why am I using, for example,” said Toni Spinella, a master’s student in neuroscience at Dalhousie University.
“It kind of makes you more aware of your motives and if you realize I’m using because I’m sad or I’m using to cope with my stress or cope with this, that would kind of be a sign that, ‘Hmm, maybe I should really take a step back and reconsider what’s going on in my life.’”
Spinella co-authored the study — with her supervisor Dr. Sean Barrett and Dr. Sherry Stewart, a clinical psychologist and addictions expert at Dalhousie — that surveyed 188 cannabis users recruited in the Halifax area.
The respondents, who were 44 per cent female and 55 per cent male, ranging in age from 18 to 59, were asked a series of questions about the social context of their most recent occasion of cannabis use, as well as their patterns and motives for use.
“As we had expected, individuals who reported using by themselves during their last cannabis using occasion were more likely to screen positive for psychosis, they endorsed more symptoms of cannabis abuse and dependence compared to social users,” Spinella said in a recent phone interview and email exchange.
The association of marijuana with psychosis might surprise some people, but she said it’s been regularly demonstrated in previous research.
“High ingestion of a lot of THC, the primary ingredient in cannabis, that has been shown to induce acute or short-term psychosis symptoms, hallucinations, that kind of thing. However, that tends to go away once the drug exits your system.”
But long-term use of cannabis has been associated with the development of clinical psychosis or psychotic symptoms that do not go away when the drug leaves your system, “and that’s where the brain changes come in,” she said.
Solitary users reported using using cannabis to cope with problems more so than group users. The solitary tokers reported using on 25 days within a 30-day period, compared with 12 days on average for social users, “so you can see quite a big difference there,” Spinella said.
While those who used cannabis with other people were significantly less prone to psychosis and dependence problems, social users shouldn’t be complacent.
“Those who had reported social use during their most recent cannabis-using occasion were nearly three times more likely to use another substance at the same time (co-substance use/polysubstance use, specifically alcohol),” she said.
“We had originally hypothesized the opposite, that solitary users would be more likely to use other substances with cannabis because it was in line with our other predictions associating solitary cannabis use with riskier patterns of behaviours and outcomes.
“It is likely that this finding reflects the impact of social and contextual factors on substance use (e.g. if you were at a party surrounded by alcohol and people drinking you might be more ‘cued’ to drink by smells, taste and environment versus if you were at home by yourself).”
Spinella emphasized that the study didn’t reveal any direct cause and effect relationship in the exploration of the social context of marijuana use. But she said the potential adverse consequences of cannabis use, whether in a solitary or group context, should be part of the conversation, particularly given the legalization of cannabis in Canada.
“I think knowledge is power for everyone, and I think the more knowledge, the more informed your decisions can be about substance use should you decide to use cannabis at any point.”
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