Macon Health Alert: Cannabis and Tobacco Users At Risk of Poor Mental Health. Doctor Explains | Plus

The Big Picture: Dr. Puja Uppal says, “Cannabis + Tobacco = Higher Anxiety & Depression.”

Doctor’s Expert Insights About the Use of Cannabis and Tobacco in Georgia

Know this: “So look, the researchers found that co-using tobacco and cannabis was associated with higher rates of anxiety and depression. This data continues to show what we’ve known for some time now–namely, combining these substances does not reduce or alleviate mental health issues. On the contrary, it’s linked to a state of increased anxiety and depression. A worsened mental wellbeing. The best thing to do is actually stop. Talk to your healthcare provider, they have many evidence-based ways to help in smoking cessation. Also, I recommend to my patients that they be screened for ADHD when they find that they’re using multiple substances to reduce or mask their anxiety or depression.” Dr. Adriana Davis, Family Medicine.

Beyond the News in Macon: Since a lot of misinformation persists regarding safe cannabis use, research like this shows that the healthcare ecosystem has to consider a whole-person approach when implementing programs that tackle both substance cessation and mental health simultaneously.

Health Alert for Macon

Key Drivers in Bibb County:

A new study published in PLOS ONE found that people who use both tobacco and cannabis are more likely to experience anxiety and depression. Co-users had higher risk scores when compared to those who only use tobacco or neither substance! The study analyzed data from over 53,000 participants from the COVID-19 Citizen Science Study.

The data showed that “4.9% of participants reported tobacco-only use, 6.9% reported cannabis-only use, and 1.6% reported co-use. Among people in the co-use group, 26.5% reported anxiety and 28.3% reported depression, while among people who used neither tobacco or cannabis, percentages of anxiety and depression were 10.6% and 11.2%.”

What they’re saying: “Proportions of reporting anxiety and depression were highest for the co-use group (26.5% and 28.3%, respectively) and lowest for the non-use group (10.6% and 11.2%, respectively). Compared to non-use, the adjusted odds of mental health disorders were highest for co-use (Anxiety: OR = 1.89, 95%CI = 1.64–2.18; Depression: OR = 1.77, 95%CI = 1.46–2.16), followed by cannabis-only use, and tobacco-only use. Compared to tobacco-only use, co-use (OR = 1.35, 95%CI = 1.08–1.69) and cannabis-only use (OR = 1.17, 95%CI = 1.00–1.37) were associated with higher adjusted odds for anxiety, but not for depression.” (Study Source)

“Use of tobacco and/or cannabis, particularly co-use of both substances, were associated with poor mental health. Integrating mental health support with tobacco and cannabis cessation may address this co-morbidity.” (Ibid.)

Health Standard Newswire: Cannabis use combined with tobacco increases your risks for anxiety and depression.

Living in Georgia, the following mental health facts impact you directly!

Did you know there were 1676.0 deaths from suicide in Georgia in 2021?

20.7% of you in Bibb County are depressed.

17.0% of you in Bibb County are in frequent mental distress.

40.1% of you in Bibb County are sleeping less than 7 hours each night.

All of these variables above play an important role in the outcomes of your overall health.

The Health Standard Newswire

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