ArticleDrug and alcohol dependence2018
Self-medication of mood and anxiety disorders with marijuana: Higher in states with medical marijuana laws.
Article in Drug and alcohol dependence, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 52 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
52 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 114 citations in OpenAlex.
- The association between recreational cannabis use and posttraumatic stress disorder: A systematic review and methodological critique of the literature.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2022Pooled it
- Cannabinoids for the treatment of mental disorders and symptoms of mental disorders: a systematic review and meta-analysis.The lancet. Psychiatry · 2019Pooled it
- Avatar Intervention in Virtual Reality for Cannabis Use Disorder in Individuals With Severe Mental Disorders: Results From a 1-Year, Single-Arm Clinical Trial.JMIR mental health · 2024Trial
- Results from a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover, multimodal-MRI pilot study of gabapentin for co-occurring bipolar and cannabis use disorders.Addiction biology · 2022Trial
- Parsing impulsivity in individuals with anxiety and depression who use Cannabis.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2020Trial
- Depressive symptoms and cannabis use in a placebo-controlled trial of N-Acetylcysteine for adult cannabis use disorder.Psychopharmacology · 2020Trial
- Relations between depression and cannabis use among college students in evolving state cannabis policy environments.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2026Article
- Impact of self-reported cannabis use on veterans' intensive PTSD treatment outcomes.Psychological trauma : theory, research, practice and policy · 2026Article
- Depressive Symptoms Predict Cannabis Initiation Among Mexican American Young Adults.Substance use & misuse · 2026Article
- Cannabis use disorder risks among Medicaid enrollees with comorbid psychiatric illnesses: 2012-2021.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2025Article
- Cannabis and psychopathology: 2024 Snapshot of a meandering journey.Indian journal of psychiatry · 2025Review
- Self-Medication in Individuals With Depression and Symptoms of Depression in the European Union: Prevalence and Associated Factors.Depression and anxiety · 2025Article
- The Longitudinal Association of Cumulative Depression With Cannabis Use Disorder Among Young Adults.Journal of studies on alcohol and drugs · 2025Article
- Prospective follow-up of New York City residents with e-cigarette, or vaping product use-associated lung injury-2020-2021.PloS one · 2025Article
- Sex Differences in the Anxiolytic Properties of Common Cannabis Terpenes, Linalool and β-Myrcene, in Mice.NeuroSci · 2024Article
- Associations between Cannabis Consumption Methods and Cannabis Risk Perception.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2024Article
- The State of Use and Utility of Negative Controls in Pharmacoepidemiologic Studies.American journal of epidemiology · 2024Review
- Cannabis Use Differences Among Sexual Minority Versus Heterosexual Females and Males in Oklahoma: The Roles of Mental Health, Cannabis Perceptions, and Cannabis Marketing Exposure.Substance use & addiction journal · 2024Article
- Attitudes of Swiss psychiatrists towards cannabis regulation and medical use in psychiatry: a cross-sectional study.Journal of cannabis research · 2023Article
- The Effect of Maternal Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) on Substance Use During Pregnancy.Maternal and child health journal · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundSelf-medication with drugs or alcohol is commonly reported among adults with mood or anxiety disorders, and increases the risk of developing substance use disorders. Medical marijuana laws (MML) may be associated with greater acceptance of the therapeutic value of marijuana, leading individuals to self-medicate.
methodsThe study utilized data from Wave 2 of the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (2004-2005). Participants were sampled from households in the general population and included adults with a mood or anxiety disorder in the past 12 months (n = 7418), and the subset of those who used marijuana and no other drug (n = 314). Weighted logistic regression models predicted the prevalence of self-medication with drugs in U.S. states with and without MML, adjusting for individual and state-level covariates. As a negative control, analyses were repeated for self-medication with alcohol.
resultsOverall, self-medication with drugs was 3.73 percentage points higher (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.93-6.53) among those living in MML states (p = 0.01). For the subpopulation that only used marijuana, self-medication with drugs was 21.22 percentage points higher (95% CI: 3.91-38.53) among those living in MML states (p = 0.02). In contrast, self-medication with alcohol had nearly identical prevalence in MML and non-MML states, overall and for drinkers.
conclusionsAmong adults with mood or anxiety disorders, living in a medical marijuana law state is associated with self-medication with marijuana. While additional research is needed to determine the reasons for this association, clinical screening for self-medication with marijuana may be particularly important in states with medical marijuana laws.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.