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A Washington State University study found that regular pot smokers react to stressful situations far more calmly than non-users.

The results of this research are somewhat unsurprising: Surveys show that “relaxation” is the No. 1 reason cited by marijuana users for why pot is their drug of choice. This research confirms that they’re probably not just deluding themselves.  (DARRYL DYCK / THE CANADIAN PRESS)  

By Christopher Ingraham The Washington Post
Mon., July 31, 2017

Recreational marijuana use is now legal in eight states plus the District of Columbia, giving public health researchers more leeway than ever to investigate some of the foundational underpinnings of cannabis culture: How much weed is in a joint? What happens to your brain when you get high?
And now: Are chronic marijuana users really more relaxed than everyone else?
You might be surprised to learn that the research to date on this question is mixed. One recent study found that while low doses of THC (the active chemical compound in pot) helped people cope with stressful situations, moderate to higher doses actually made people stress out even more.

But that particular study simply measured the effects of a single dose of THC — what about the effects of repeated heavy cannabis use?

The heavy users, in other words, reacted to a stressful situation with equanimity and chill even though they weren’t stoned at the time of the test. There’s an outside chance that some of this effect could be due to self-selection: Perhaps naturally relaxed people are more inclined to become frequent cannabis users? But the effects were observed in a controlled laboratory experiment, making the causal link much stronger than it would have been if the researchers had just relied on, say, pre-existing survey data.

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