Amotivation and Marijuana
Is your marijuana use giving you amotivation? In simpler language, is weed making you lazy? I set out on the internet to discover the answer to this question.
If you go by anecdotes, there are people arguing that they have indeed seen or experienced the amotivation effect, and there also are people arguing that this effect is a myth. I like looking at comments sections for personal experiences and will share some of these before I delve into research studies.
Going over to Quora, the question “Is cannabis amotivational syndrome a real thing?” was posed, and here is a snippet of the answer from user Rose Pearce:
In my experience, it definitely caused me to lose motivation in general. But in my case, I was overusing the hybrid and sativa strains. From what I know, sativa is more motivating…[I]t would either help me clear my head to focus on a task or make me completely uninterested and put it off longer. It can cause you to be stuck in a cycle of self medicating in an unhealthy manner which could unintentionally cause a decrease in motivation.
It’s interesting she experienced amotivation from marijuana use even though she was using a strain known to be motivating.
You can also find people like Charlie Miller, who report a completely different experience (from the same Quora page):
I’ve been smoking everyday since I was about 14, currently I’m in the industry. I run a small business and also partner in a procurement company… I run 8 to 9 miles a day and my lungs are doing great! Not only do I run, but I also swim typically about a mile and a half to two miles four to five times a week. I bike Everywhere I Go, so it’s very difficult to claim that I’m unmotivated… It’s pretty common that most of the very lazy cannabis users typically have codependencies like alcoholism or … prescription medication. I have so many friends that smoke cannabis that are also on some sort of prescription pain reliever or relaxer and I find these individuals are the laziest. I quit drinking about 5 years ago and ever since then I’ve been nothing but productive.
Mr. Miller appears to be implying that it’s not actually the marijuana that causes laziness but rather other drugs they are taking, like pain meds and alcohol. I’m not sure I buy this, because a lot of people get into cannabis use precisely for pain management, to avoid the standard opioids. There is also a conflict of interest because he identified himself as working in the cannabis industry. Regarding alcohol, I could see it making people lazy, and the stereotype of a lazy drunk does exist. While it’s true that a lot of marijuana users also drink, can alcohol completely explain away the stereotype of the lazy stoner?
Further down the page, Jason Miranda also declared support for marijuana:
No. It’s a fabrication based on stereotypes and surface-level observations from anti-marijuana organizations… I use cannabis regularly everyday/multiple times per day for studying. It helps me get more interested in whatever I am doing, in general.
One thing I noticed while browsing anecdotes on marijuana consumptionis that a number of users get very defensive of their use. Here are a couple of comments from a Youtube video, in which the first commentator basically admits he or she was lying to himself/herself for years about the harm marijuana was causing.
An observation from the same video’s comments section:
Perhaps the amotivation effect sneaks in over time? The metaphor of boiling the frog comes to mind…
Below, we have a comment from a person identifying as a substance use therapist. An observation from an addiction therapist carries some weight, as he or she is in the position to observe many users over time.
While on the topic of anecdotes, I might as well share my own observations from my time working at an addictions clinic. One client was a young man addicted to marijuana. He sometimes asked for help from clinical staff, but to my knowledge, never, ever followed through on whatever guidance he received. He would not return voicemails. When I talked to him, he did strike me as lacking any sort of drive or aspirations.
Another client was an older woman who spent much of her time at the clinic, even smoking marijuana onsite. She either socialized outside with other clients or just sat in the lobby – way too often to have the excuse of waiting for an appointment. I’m pretty sure she had housing, so one could conclude she had little else going on in her life besides marijuana and chitchat with friends.
Overall, I’m inclined to believe that marijuana usage can indeed lead to amotivation. However, there are indeed testimonials of people asserting otherwise (as noted above). How to reconcile these conflicting experiences? Well, I believe a possible explanation lies within the person’s starting motivation. Let’s measure motivation on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being a couch potato and 10 being a die hard workaholic. Someone who is a 3 upon starting cannabis consumption is already struggling with below average motivation, and any further decrease from the cannabis could have a devastating impact. Someone who is a 9, like say a Steve Jobs type, might already have so much drive to begin with that sustaining a level of reduction wouldn’t make too much of a difference.
Another explanation is that some people are simply more vulnerable to the effects of marijuana. Probably most of us have heard of someone’s granddad who smoked into his eighties or nineties and ate whatever he wanted and was in great health. Some people really are blessed with a stronger constitution than the average person.
These are just my theories – feel free to share your thoughts.
What does the research say about cannabis and amotivation?
Anecdotes present a conflicting picture, and it turns out that the research does exactly the same thing. Very disappointing indeed, when I was hoping that research would bring some clarity!
Since there are a lot of studies on marijuana and amotivation, I had decided to look at a meta-analysis of 22 studies to make things easier. Of these studies, 9 showed an association between marijuana use and loss of motivation and 13 did not. The quality of the studies varied, with some having rather small sample sizes (one had as low as 20 participants) and inconsistent definitions of what constitutes “motivation.” Moreover, ten of these studies did not control for confounding variables, such as depression and the use of other types of drugs.
In the discussion part of the study, the meta-analysis authors made the interesting point that it is possible that any kind of addiction could lead to a loss of motivation – I think there could be truth to this. In regards to their examination of the 22 studies, the authors concluded that although it remains unclear if marijuana affects motivation, “there is partial support from longitudinal studies for a causal link between cannabis use and reduced motivation.” I guess we just don’t have good enough research yet? This reminds me: at some point, I will have to do an article on how much trust we can place in research…
Other known potential side effects of marijuana consumption
Even if it turns out that cannabis does not possess the power to transform productive go-getters into couch potatoes, it does come with other documented and undesirable side effects.
- Risk of psychosis. Cannabis-induced psychosis is a documented risk of using marijuana.
- Risk of mood disruption, depression, anxiety, and suicidality – these might come as a surprise for those who use marijuana for its relaxing properties.
- Emotional numbness.
- Dreamless sleep. I saw people reporting this effect fairly often while scrolling through anecdotes. Apparently this happens because the psychoactive component THC reduces REM sleep.
- Poor memory. This is another side effect of marijuana that users are reporting, and it has to do with the lack of REM sleep, which is necessary for memory consolidation. It’s unfortunate that a number of people take marijuana to help with sleep, when it actually deprives them of this important part of the sleep cycle.
References:
1. Pacheco-Colon, I., Limia, J.M., & Gonzalez, R. (Jul. 2, 2018). Non-Acute Effects of Cannabis Use on Motivation and Reward Sensitivity in Humans: A Systematic Review. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 32 (5). https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6062456/#S12
2. CBC Radio. (Oct. 6, 2017). Your dreams are disappearing in a cloud of pot smoke and it’s a problem. https://www.cbc.ca/radio/quirks/october-7-2017-1.4343355/your-dreams-are-disappearing-in-a-cloud-of-pot-smoke-and-it-s-a-problem-1.4343366
3. Young-Wolff, K.C., Cortez, C.A., Alexeeff, S.E., et al. (Feb. 20, 2026). Adolescent Cannabis Use and Risk of Psychotic, Bipolar, Depressive, and Anxiety Disorders. JAMA Heath Forum. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama-health-forum/fullarticle/2845356
4. Solmi, M., De Toffol, M., Kim, J.Y., Choi, M.J., et al. (Aug. 30, 2023). Balancing risks and benefits of cannabis use: umbrella review of meta-analyses of randomised controlled trials and observational studies. BMJ. https://www.bmj.com/content/382/bmj-2022-072348
Other articles you may find interesting:
Quitting Smoking the Easier Way — No Books, Patches, Or Meds!
Biological Causes of Mental Illness
Did Carrie Fisher Suffer from Mental Illness Entirely Because of the Drugs?