Will Marijuana Cure Depression? Should you use marijuana for depression? Is weed a depressant?

Marijuana and Depression is a topic that has been discussed by many people. This is due to the potential benefit of cannabis to help depression, where it can potentially help treat this condition in the short-run.

Using weed for depression is still a controversial topic as not everyone agrees with it. While some people swear by using weed to treat depression, others feel that it will make you more depressed in the long run.

Depression is a symptom that affects about 350 million people in the world. When you are depressed, you start to lose interest in doing things you once love and just feel sad all the time. 

With Canada legalizing weed back in October 2018, there has been a steady increase of people using medical marijuana for depression.

In this article, we will be going over the main topics on the relationship between weed and depression. 

You will also gain an insider look at what 100 Canadians think about marijuana and depression. These people are all cannabis enthusiasts, where their opinions will be unbiased.

Will cannabis cure depression? Does it only treat it temporarily? Does it make depression worse? From choosing the best strains for anxiety and depression to marijuana’s effect on depression, we will cover it all one by one.

Benefits of Medical Marijuana

What are the benefits of marijuana? People consume and smoke marijuana for many reasons. Here are the most popular reasons on how it is used medicinally. 

1 – Cannabis used as a tool to help manage pain

2 – Marijuana is used to relieve anxiety

3 – Potential treatment for nausea and vomiting

4 – Help with sleep

5 – HIV-related weight loss

6 – Cannabis can help increase lung capacity

7 – Cannabidiol has been found to heal broken bones

8 – Control arthritis pain

9 – Treats inflammatory bowel diseases

10 – Slows the development of Alzheimer’s disease

11 – Treats people with symptoms of PTSD

Medical Marijuana For Depression

marijuana for depression

There are many signs of depression that you can watch out for to see if a person actually has it. 

If someone is just feeling unhappy, this does not necessarily mean they are depressed. They could simply be experiencing a difficult time in their lives such as going through a break up with their significant other.

We are bound to experience sadness in our lifetimes. No matter how good our life is, there comes a day when you will experience the death of a loved one. You could also be sad about having a bad day at work. 

Cannabis has the major compounds of THC and CBD that will help restore the brain’s endocannabinoid levels. 

Depending on the type of cannabis used, it will treat depression by increasing serotonin in your brain.

Signs of Depression

The most common signs of depression are the following:

1 – Loss of interest

You start losing interest in doing things you once love.

When you are depressed, it will take all enjoyment out of anything and everything. 

If you are someone who loves outdoor activities such as playing tennis, a sudden halt in doing the activity for a long time might be a sign of depression.

Losing interest in sex is also a sign of depression.

2 – Feeling hopeless

You start to look at the world in a negative way, where the feeling of hopelessness is all you ever think about it.

This can lead to feeling self-hatred and blaming yourself for everything bad that happens to you. 

3 – Feeling anxiety

feeling anxiety

Another sign of depression could be an increase in feelings of anxiety. 

These include: 

  1. Rapid breathing and heart rate
  2. Trembling
  3. Feeling scared and tensed all the time
  4. Restlessness
  5. Trouble focusing or thinking clearly

4 – Feeling tired all the time

When you are depressed, you will have a lack of energy all the time. This makes you just want to sleep often.

If you know someone who does not do much of anything other than sleep, it could be a sign that they are depressed.

5 – Change in appetite

This will differ between individuals when they are depressed. 

For some people, they might feel an increase in appetite and gain more weight. For others, they might lack interest in eating and lose a lot of weight.

If losing or increasing weight is not an intentional process, it is a sign that the person is depressed.

Research on Marijuana and Depression

The linkage between marijuana and depression is largely controversial. However, as more research is being done on the relationship between these two topics, we are starting to see how weed can help treat depression.

While it may not be advisable to take weed as the first choice for depression, it is another option that you can use to treat this symptom. 

Relationship Between Marijuana and Depression

marijuana and cannabis

What’s the link between Marijuana and Depression?

Do depressed people naturally smoke more marijuana? Or is it the other way around, where marijuana is used to help with depression?

The use of cannabis when you are depressed is like a double-edged sword. While it may help you escape your reality and problems in the short run, it could also cause long term problems after the effect starts to wear off. 

Once the “high” feeling fades away, the problems that it was masking in the first place start to resurface again. This can create an endless cycle of using weed to suppress these thoughts.

Research has also shown that those who smoke marijuana are at a higher risk of developing depression than non-smokers. However, this does not mean that cannabis will cause depression.

A theory is that the genetic makeup of a person with depression will also like smoking weed.

It is widely known that cannabis will cause users to get a euphoric high. Knowing this, depressed people might want to detach themselves from reality and get high. These individuals may want to escape whatever situation they are in, where regular use of cannabis will cause short-term memory loss.



Case Study for Marijuana and Depression

In order to get a more accurate understanding of the relation between weed for depression, I set up a poll and asked a Canadian Cannabis Facebook group who use cannabis the question of “Do you think cannabis helps cure depression? Or does it make it worse?”

Out of the 11,000 members in the group,100 responses were recorded on their thoughts about this topic.

case study for marijuana and depression - poll on what people think

The results showed a mix of responses. However, you can see that it was heavily geared towards how cannabis will only treat depression and does not cure it.

Coming in second place were people who felt that cannabis does indeed cure depression.

Some people also felt that it depends on the type of strain used. Sativa strains make depression worse, while Indica strains will help it become better.

Out of all the people who participated in this poll, only one person selected the option that Cannabis makes depression worse.

Hopefully, this case study will give you a better insight into what marijuana will do to a person with depression.

Like any other medication treatment, an ongoing condition such as depression must be maintained by regular use of cannabis to control its symptoms. 

Best Strains for Anxiety and Depression

cannabis strains

While there are many different kinds of weed strains out there, the most common two are indica and Sativa. So, indica or sativa for depression? Which is better?

The answer to this all comes down to what you are using it for and its THC levels.

Sativa strains will have a higher concentration of THC compared to CBD, where it will give you a ‘mind high.” This will make you more energized and ready for a mind-blowing productive session on whatever you need to do. 

The effects of Sativa strains will also help reduce pain, anxiety, and depression.

As for Indica strains, it has a higher concentration of CBD compared to THC. This strain type is best for evening use as it will give you a calming sensation, where you will experience a “body high.” 

In a similar way, Indica strains will help you relax and make the anxiety and depression go away.

With these two strains, you can see why people use cannabis for depression. The possibilities of weed and depression are just endless. 

For the most part, marijuana with a high THC is effective to combat paranoia and anxiety.

How To Get Medical Marijuana

If you or anyone else is experiencing these signs of depression for over 14 days, it is time to seek medical help to treat this.

Luckily, there are different treatments for depression, such as a change in lifestyle and medications. Cannabis is also an option that has shown to help treat depression in a good way.

For obtaining medical marijuana in Canada, there are several online dispensaries that you can use to buy weed online with the best weed prices.

Always try to get your marijuana products from a trusted source. In this way, you can be certain that the product labels show the correct THC and CBD dosage levels.

It is important to remember that nothing can cure depression because it is something that cannot be cured. 

However, using cannabis does treat it effectively.


So what is the link between cannabis and depression? It is clear that medical marijuana can help reduce the side effects of other medications. 

Cannabis will also suppress endocannabinoid production, which is what actually causes depression in people. 

However, the use of cannabis for depression can potentially increase suicidal thoughts and further increase depression. 

It is also important to remember that using cannabis to treat depression is more of a short term plan. In the long run, getting medical advice from a doctor is always the next step.

Therefore, it is crucial to let your health provider know that you are using cannabis. In this way, you can rest easy knowing that your well-being will be taken care of.

With the increasing research being done on this topic, it is almost certain that we will gain new valuable information between depression and marijuana.

From this article, you have gained knowledge of the linkage between marijuana and depression.

While it is not a proven method to treat depression, it certainly should not be an option that is ruled out.

Will cannabis actually help cure depression? Probably not. Will it help treat it? Absolutely!

What new facts have you learned from this article? Share your thoughts with us down below!

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