Increased Use of Pot Can Lead to Money Issues

Study reveals that people who smoked pot more than four days in a week over the years may end up with serious financial woes.

Recent research examined children from birth to the time they turned 38 years and discovered that regular cannabis smokers ended up having poor life standards, lower social class, less skilled or high-status jobs, than those who did not smoke pot.

Persistent users also faced greater financial hardships as well as relationship troubles that aggravated over the years as the use of cannabis increased.

The study is conducted by team of researchers led by Magdalena Cerdá at University of California and Terrie Moffitt at Duke University. The paper appeared in Journal Clinical Psychological Science

"Our research does not support arguments for or against cannabis legalization," said Cerdá, first author of the study and an epidemiologist at the UC Davis Violence Prevention Research Program. "But it does show that cannabis was not safe for the long-term users tracked in our study."

"Our study found that regular cannabis users experienced downward social mobility and more financial problems such as troubles with debt and cash flow than those who did not report such persistent use," she said. "Regular long-term users also had more antisocial behaviors at work, such as stealing money or lying to get a job, and experienced more relationship problems, such as intimate partner violence and controlling abuse."

The researchers say that the financial health of cannabis smokers will be affected from adolescence into adulthood, even if they are not addicted to the drug. Participants over the age of 18 years, who consistently depended on marijuana, faced even greater troubles over a period of time.

The link between financial woes and marijuana were established after accounting for IQ, childhood poverty, depression, alcohol abuse, criminal convictions, impulsiveness and frequent use of marijuana.