Jay and Silent Bob, The Freak Brothers, Towelie, Tommy Chong, and Jeff “The Dude” Lebowski: all classic characters from pop culture, all famous for being the absent-minded and unmotivated embodiment of being a stoner. These images helped perpetuate the myth that weed will make you a lazy and befuddled person, always stuck somewhere between a weed hangover and the next sesh.
The stereotype of the befuddled, unmotivated pothead who wakes up at noon and constantly forgets everything is a powerful image that has been used for everything from scare tactics to marketing. However, is this depiction of what weed does to your brain really indicative of long-term Cannabis use, or is it merely a myth? A couple of recent studies on the long-term effects of Cannabis use — specifically on energy levels and cognitive function — have sought to determine whether this perception of the stoner brain is a real thing or just another marijuana myth.
Will Weed Make You Lazy?
This January, a study published in SAGE Journals examined the “emotional, motivational and self-regulatory effects of frequently getting high.” The test subjects, who each got high five times a day for a week straight, were tested periodically to register their emotional state and levels of motivation and conscientiousness. Importantly, researchers found during this testing that they found no evidence of the so-called weed hangover. Dr. Michael Inzlicht, one of the authors, told the University of Toronto, “There is a stereotype that chronic Cannabis users are somehow lazy or unproductive. We found that’s not the case. … Their behavior might change a bit in the moment while they’re high, but our evidence shows they are not lazy or lacking motivation at all.”
The paper concludes that, overall, people using Cannabis reported more positive emotions and fewer negative ones. Very frequent users displayed a lack of self-control and decreased organization relative to less frequent users, but Inzlicht said this attraction to distraction didn’t make them less “hard-working, responsible or able to focus.” Perhaps it’s not that stoners are unable to act but that we’re acting everywhere all at once and just deciding where to land the blow. However, they did point out that this was a sample of 260 people who were willing to sit in a room high and be repeatedly asked, “How do you feel?”
Will Weed Make You Stupid?
A 2024 Danish study on brain behavior followed the relationship between long-term Cannabis use and IQ levels. Created as a follow-up to a report on age-related cognitive decline, the research team was able to gain access to over 5,000 male participants, divided them up between Cannabis users and non-users, and again by when they started using weed. The examination looked at extensive health questionnaires and a cognitive test given to Danish male citizens at ages 22 and 62. Using this data, along with their history of Cannabis use, scientists stated that they could find “no significant harmful effects of Cannabis use on age-related cognitive decline.” In fact, the test subjects who used Cannabis showed less decline from early adulthood through late midlife when compared to those who never tried weed.
The paper concludes, “Among Cannabis users, neither age of initiation … nor frequent use was significantly associated with greater age-related cognitive decline.” Looking at their findings, potheads came out a full 1.3 IQ points lower in cognitive decline compared to sober citizens. While rich in data, this test sadly has an information blind spot, as they weren’t able to also examine non-male test subjects to better understand the facts. However, having this jump-off point creates a greater need for additional testing.
When we take a look at this data, it’s hard to still subscribe to the idea of an old stoner whose brain can’t remember where they put their pipe when it’s in their hand. It seems like these studies show tokers are keeping a pretty sharp mind, even if we are still prone to letting that mind wander.
