Unfortunately, the stereotype of cannabis users as a bunch of lazy, unproductive stoners who munch and smoke all day long and never get anywhere in life still persists. However as cannabis becomes increasingly more accepted and mainstream, we are starting to see a different side of the cannabis community – successful people, parents, teachers, scientists and so many others who go home and enjoy cannabis in their free time.
One of the biggest fears many people have about their children using any drug is that their grades and their futures will suffer for it – and unfortunately cannabis is classified the same as the drugs which can truly lead to such issues. But a new study shows that college cannabis consumers have a higher overall GPA when compared to their non-using counterparts. The study was done by Inhale Labs, which surveyed over 2,000 college students of 4-year universities.
As it turns out, the self-reported GPA of students overall was 3.1 – but when you narrow it down to only the students who said they consume cannabis daily (which is defined as more than 20 days out of the month minimally), the average self-reported GPA was slightly higher at 3.2. Out of those students who say they consume cannabis daily, 87% say they have done an assignment after using cannabis in the last three months; 69% have gone to class after using and 62% have consumed cannabis prior to taking an exam.
Of course, for those of us who consume cannabis, this is understandable – if you focus better while using a sativa strain, perhaps as a way to cope with ADD or ADHD, then studying or doing assignments after using makes sense. If you have an extreme testing anxiety, which is relatively common, then cannabis may be used as an aid to calm nerves before taking an exam – which could explain why cannabis users’ GPAs seems to be slightly higher than the average college student.
“It’s not only frequent marijuana use that has seen a jump”, the study states. “One in four (24.8 percent) college students have reported using marijuana once or more in the prior 30 days, up from 21 percent in 2014 and 17 percent in 2006. An even bigger hike occurred for those who have used marijuana in the prior 12 months. The rate is currently 47 percent, up from 34 percent in 2014 and just 30 percent in 2006.”
Overall, it doesn’t appear that cannabis use is something parents of college students should be worrying about. When used in the right doses, especially if you live in a state where you can legally access specific strains based on different qualities, cannabis is a safer aid to college students than more dangerous drugs like Ritalin and Adderall and even street drugs they may use to fuel a study session.
This study is another step forward in proving that cannabis is not a substance to be feared – clearly college students are gaining a perspective that both enjoys cannabis and knows how to utilize it to their advantage. The students who took these surveys should be proud to consider themselves a part of the cannabis community in this evolving age.