Studies tested how regular cannabis use affects creativity, error detection and neurotransmitters.
Regular cannabis use is linked to worse creative thinking, new research concludes.
They also find it harder to spot their own mistakes.
The conclusions come from a series of studies carried out by psychologist Mikael Kowal.
Regular cannabis use
One of the studies tested people’s brainstorming abilities.
It showed that regular cannabis users performed worse.
Mr Kowal said:
“There is a widespread belief among users that these drugs enhance creativity.
This experiment disproves that belief.”
Another study tested how good people were at detecting their own mistakes.
Again, regular cannabis users performed poorly.
Mr Kowal said:
“It is important that we gather more knowledge about the effects of cannabis on a person’s ability to detect mistakes.
This can help with putting together a treatment programme for drug addiction.”
Dopamine disruption
In the long-term cannabis disrupts the activity of the neurotransmitter dopamine.
One sign of this is that regular users blink significantly less than non-users.
Mr Kowal concluded:
“More research is needed on the effects of cannabis and on the individual consequences it can have on mental functions.”
The studies are part of Mr Kowal’s PhD.
