Modern cannabis consumers may be seeking spiritual benefits – study

A new study suggests that many modern cannabis consumers may be seeking the spiritual benefits of the plant.

Scientists investigating the spiritual benefits of the cannabis plant have indicated that this is an area worthy of more research. 

A team from the California School of Professional Psychology at Alliant International University in the US, have been examining the spiritual motives among modern day cannabis consumers. 

Cannabis has been a part of traditional spiritual practices for thousands of years, with deep roots in Hinduism, Islam, Rastafarianism, and indigenous traditions in Asia, Africa, and elsewhere. 

However, whether adults who consume cannabis regularly today do so for spiritual reasons, is an area which has not been previously studied. 

More than 1,000 participants, with an average age of 39, completed an online survey about their use of cannabis and other substances, as well as their ‘spiritual and psychological characteristics’. 

Spiritual benefit from cannabis was reported by 66.1 percent of respondents, with only 5.5 percent saying it had sometimes been a ‘spiritual hindrance’.

In the US, where cannabis has been legalised for adult-use in many states, consumers are increasingly seeking cannabis out for wellness purposes.

Using cannabis before practicing yoga or meditation, for example, is said to help enhance the experience and quieten the mind.

Speaking at Prohibition Live earlier this year, American cannabis activist and yoga instructor, Jessamyn Stanley, said cannabis can help “take the armour off” to help people get on the mat and engage in wellness practices such as yoga and meditation,

She commented: “Yoga and cannabis have been in a relationship stretching back thousands of years.”

The authors of the study wrote in an abstract: “Those who reported spiritual benefit differed significantly from those who did not on several outcome variables, and a post hoc descriptive discriminant analysis revealed that expansiveness motivation, non-theistic daily spiritual experience, meditation frequency, and two mindfulness facets contributed most to differentiating the two groups. 

“Results suggest that spiritual motives for cannabis use may be widespread.”