Bhang and tobacco smokers likely to have mental health issues
A woman smoking bhang.
What you need to know:
- The study coincides with a new report released by the National Authority for the Campaign against Drug Abuse which shows that the number of Kenyan weed smokers has doubled in just five years.
- The report showed that youth are the highest consumers of cannabis in the country, linking that to their disregard to the harmful side effects of cannabis.
- Nairobi, Nyanza and the Coast regions, in that order, had the highest number of cannabis users. More men than women smoke bhang in Kenya.
Smokers who use a combination of tobacco and cannabis are likelier to show signs of poor mental health, a new study shows.
This is compared to those who either use tobacco only or those who do not smoke at all.
The study published in the scientific journal Plos One shows that using both drugs causes one to exhibit either depressive symptoms or anxiety.
The researchers said daily use of the said drugs can also predispose one to such symptoms.
“This finding suggests both independent effects of tobacco and cannabis and joint effects of both substances on mental health,” wrote the scientists.
“However, we could not determine causation of these associations due to the lack of data on initiation of tobacco and cannabis use as well as temporal onset of anxiety and depression,” they explained.
The researchers said the likelihood of being diagnosed with these mental health disorders was about 1.8 times greater for co-users than non-users.
Using the two drugs and using cannabis alone was linked to a higher likelihood of having anxiety compared to use of tobacco only.
The study coincides with a new report released by the National Authority for the Campaign against Drug Abuse (Nacada) last week which shows that the number of Kenyan weed smokers has doubled in just five years.
The report showed that youth are the highest consumers of cannabis in the country, linking that to their disregard to the harmful side effects of cannabis.
Nairobi, Nyanza and the Coast regions, in that order, had the highest number of cannabis users. More men than women smoke bhang in Kenya.
Generally, the Nacada survey shows that tobacco tops the chart as the widely known drug with about 97 per cent of Kenyans having an idea about it. Alcohol, however, is the most abused drug in the country. For tobacco abuse, men also trump women.
The scientists linking the abuse of the drugs to mental disorders say that implications on clinical practice and public health should be enhanced.
“The observed associations between use of tobacco and cannabis and anxiety and depression call for more attention to the comorbidity of substance use and mental health,” they suggested.
“As tobacco and cannabis use are common among people with mental health issues, screening for use of tobacco and cannabis should be a priority in mental health treatment settings,” they added.
