In a breakthrough that will surprise absolutely no one who has ever met a person, researchers at Oregon State University have found that people who frequently use cannabis may start their day with higher levels of cortisol - the so-called 'stress hormone' - than those who don't. The study, published in the journal Cannabis, hints that regular use might mess with the body's natural daily stress rhythm, because why would it not?
Stress is apparently the main reason people report using cannabis, which is convenient because it's also associated with problematic use. While cannabis can offer temporary relief, the researchers suggest that frequent use over time could interfere with the biological systems that regulate stress. In other words, the thing you use to relax might be making your body's relaxation system a bit confused.
Led by Anita Cservenka of the OSU College of Liberal Arts, the study is one of the few to investigate how frequent cannabis use relates to the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis - the major neuroendocrine system that coordinates your body's stress response. Because when you're stressed about being stressed, that's the system to blame.
This all comes as cannabis use has surged among young adults in the U.S. A whopping 29% of adults aged 19 to 30 report using cannabis in the past 30 days, a rate that has nearly doubled over the past 15 years. And more than 10% of that age group use it at least 20 times a month - more than double what it was 15 years ago. So, basically, a lot of people are waking up with elevated cortisol.
Cservenka cautions that the findings don't prove that frequent cannabis use causes higher morning cortisol, nor that elevated morning cortisol makes people use more cannabis. 'We would need to study the same groups of people over a longer period of time to understand any cause-and-effect relationship, but we think this provides an important starting point,' she said. Translation: We've found a correlation, but we're not ready to say it's causation. Yet.
For those who slept through biology, cortisol is a hormone made by the adrenal glands. It's called the 'stress hormone' because your body releases it in response to pressure, but it also helps fight infection, maintain blood pressure, and regulate blood sugar and metabolism. In the short term, it's great for coping with stress. But if it stays elevated for too long, it can increase risks of anxiety, depression, and heart disease. So, you know, keep it in check.
The researchers focused on the cortisol awakening response (CAR), which is the natural spike in cortisol that peaks about 30 minutes after waking. They measured cortisol immediately upon waking and again 30 minutes later, subtracting the first from the second. The difference indicates how well your body prepares for the day's stressors. Turns out, the size of the morning increase was similar between cannabis users and nonusers. The difference was in the starting point: frequent users already had more cortisol circulating when they woke up. So they're not reacting more to the day - they're just already stressed before it begins.
'Our research suggests cortisol levels upon awakening may serve as a neurobiological marker of problematic cannabis use, and that connection needs to be investigated further,' Cservenka said. She also noted that earlier studies found a blunted CAR in frequent users, but they didn't replicate that, highlighting the messy complexity of the relationship. Factors like study populations and analysis methods could explain why different studies get different results. In other words, science is hard, and stress is complicated.
Even so, Cservenka thinks it's reasonable to consider that frequent users might have disrupted daily stress rhythms, potentially leading to a feedback loop where a poorly regulated stress system encourages more cannabis use. Because what better way to cope with stress than to do the thing that might be making you stressed?
The research was funded by Oregon State University, the OSU Center for the Humanities, and the OSU College of Liberal Arts. Materials provided by Oregon State University, original written by Steve Lundeberg. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.
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