Highly Prestigious Cambridge University Says the Lazy Stoner is a Lazy Stereotype (and Not True!)

Cambridge University in England is the world’s third oldest institute of higer learning, and one the most prestigious and highly respected, as well.

And scientists there have just completed a study on cannabis users.

One of them summed up the study’s purpose and result, by saying, “We’re so used to seeing ‘lazy stoners’ on our screens that we don’t stop to ask whether they’re an accurate representation of cannabis users. Our work implies that this is in itself a lazy stereotype.” - Martine Skumlien

A team led by scientists at the University of Cambridge and the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience at King’s College London carried out a study comparing cannabis users to a control group and seeing if there was a difference in their levels of apathy and anhedoina (which are loss of interest or motivation, and loss of interest in pleasure from rewards).

They worked with both adults and adolescents who used cannabis at least four times a week, and as much as every day. Professor Barbara Sahakian, from the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Cambridge, said: “Our evidence indicates that cannabis use does not appear to have an effect on motivation for recreational users.”

In addition to no negative effect on motivation levels, they also found that the cannabis users did not have a lack of interest in seeking rewards from exerting effort.

And in fact, their scores even indicated that cannabis users actually appeared to be able to enjoy themselves better than non-users. Something that doesn’t come as a shock to any cannabis users!

The same team also published a report earlier this year on the same participants as they took part in a task and measured their reward processing. They used functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) to look at the brain during tasks, and the images showed clearly that cannabis users had similar reward systems as non-users.

​Results from The University of Cambridge scientists are published in the International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology.  ​

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