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Spiritual Benefit from Cannabis.
Frederick J Heide1, Tai Chang1, Natalie Porter1
1California School of Professional Psychology, Alliant International University, CA, Emeryville, USA.
Journal of Psychoactive Drugs
|July 6, 2021
Summary
Many adults use cannabis for spiritual benefit, with 66.1% reporting positive spiritual experiences. This study explored spiritual cannabis use, finding it widespread and linked to specific psychological traits, not necessarily cannabis use disorder.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Religious Studies
- Cannabis Research
Background:
- Cannabis has a long history in spiritual practices across various cultures and religions.
- Contemporary spiritual use of cannabis by adults remains under-researched.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how contemporary adults use cannabis for spiritual purposes.
- To identify psychological characteristics associated with spiritual cannabis use.
- To examine the relationship between spiritual cannabis use and cannabis use disorder.
Main Methods:
- An online survey was administered to 1087 participants assessing cannabis use, spiritual and psychological characteristics.
- Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) and discriminant analysis were used to compare groups.
Main Results:
- 66.1% of participants reported spiritual benefit from cannabis use; 5.5% reported it as a hindrance.
- Spiritual benefit was associated with higher expansiveness motivation, non-theistic spiritual experiences, meditation frequency, and mindfulness.
- The majority (63%) were free of cannabis use disorder, with non-disordered users being older and having lower psychological distress.
Conclusions:
- Spiritual motives for cannabis use appear to be common among contemporary adults.
- Specific psychological factors differentiate individuals who experience spiritual benefits from cannabis.
- Spiritual cannabis use is not necessarily indicative of cannabis use disorder.
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