Study On Marijuana Use And Yoga Finds That Set And Setting Can Influence Mental Health Benefits – Medical Marijuana Program Connection

A newly published study finds that people who practice yoga after consuming marijuana experience improved mindfulness and mysticality, indicating that setting and behavior may play an important role in modulating a person’s cannabis experience.

The paper, published as a University of British Columbia psychology dissertation, aimed to explore “the impact of contextual factors during cannabis use on well-being outcomes.” As author Sarah Elizabeth Ann Daniels wrote, such considerations are common in the realm of psychedelic therapy but less so when it comes to cannabis.

“When using other psychoactive drugs to treat mental health conditions, researchers pay particular attention to contextual factors beyond the direct drug effects, such as the mindset, setting, and behavior, as there is considerable evidence that these factors can significantly impact the therapeutic outcomes,” Daniels observed. “These factors are rarely considered during therapeutic cannabis use.”

The study’s results “generally indicate that what you do while you experience cannabis effects matters,” the paper concludes. “Mirroring psychedelics, this study supports the concept that set and setting during cannabis use may significantly impact the therapeutic benefit of the drug.”

To test whether context affected someone’s cannabis experience, Daniels had 47 participants self-administer cannabis twice, one week apart. During one session, they practiced yoga. During the other, they did…