Participants in all three groups experienced significant decreases in their anxiety during the study
Daily cannabis use – and the use of CBD-dominant cannabis products especially – is associated with decreases in anxiety, according to observational data published in the International Journal of Research and Public Health.
Investigators affiliated with the University of Colorado at Boulder examined daily associations between cannabis use and anxiety across 30 days in 345 adults. Participants used flower or edible products ad libitum. They were randomly assigned to one of three product groups: (1) THC-dominant (flower: 24 percent THC, <1 percent CBD | edible: 10 mg THC, 0 mg CBD), (2) CBD-dominant (flower: <1 percent THC, 24 percent CBD | edible: 0 mg THC, 10 mg CBD), or (3) balanced THC and CBD (12 percent THC, 12 percent CBD | edible: 10 mg THC, 10 mg CBD). Participants independently purchased their assigned product from a local partner dispensary.
Participants in all three groups experienced significant decreases in their anxiety during the study, with those using CBD-dominant edibles showing the most consistent reductions from day 1 to day 30. Prior studies have similarly concluded that the daily use of plant-derived CBD extracts leads to “dramatic reductions” in anxiety among patients with generalized anxiety disorder.
“This study provides within-person, naturalistic findings that cannabis use is associated with short-term reductions in anxiety, with CBD products producing the most consistent benefits,” the study’s authors concluded. “To our knowledge, this is the first study to examine the day-to-day associations between cannabis use and anxiety among individuals who use legal market cannabis to cope with anxiety.”
This brief was reprinted from NORML. Full text of the study, “Therapeutically motivated cannabis use for anxiety: Daily and longitudinal reductions vary between flower and edible products,” appears in the International Journal of Research and Public Health.
