Marijuana hampers creativity in people, a new study shows.
The study by researchers at the Leiden University in the Netherlands is in stark contrast from the common notion that says smoking pot enhances creativity.
Researchers Lorenza Colzato and Mikael Kowal examined the way marijuana with a high concentration of the psychoactive ingredient THC influences creativity.
For the study, the researchers recruited cannabis users who were divided into three groups of 18. "One group was given cannabis with a high THC content (22 mg), the second group was given a low dose (5.5 mg) and the third group was given a placebo. The high dose was equivalent to three joints and the low dose was equal to a single joint," according to the press release.
The participants were not aware of what they were being given, likely because the cannabis was administered via a vaporizer.
"The test candidates then had to carry out cognitive tasks that looked into two types of creative thinking like divergent thinking: generating rapid solutions for a given problem, such as 'Think of as many uses as you can for a pen?'" and "convergent thinking: finding the only right answer to a question, such as: 'What is the link between the words "time," "hair" and "stretching," (The answer is "long"),'" the release reads.
Their findings revealed that participants who took a low lose of THC or placebo performed the best on thinking tests. However, participants given a high dose of THC actually performed worse on thinking tests that measured the ability to come up with solutions to a given problem.
These findings are completely opposite of the hypothesis that smoking weed boosts their creativity. "The improved creativity that they believe they experience is an illusion," said Colzato.
"'If you want to overcome writer's block or any other creative gap, lighting up a joint isn't the best solution. Smoking several joints one after the other can even be counterproductive to creative thinking," Colzato added.
The latest findings are published in the journal Psychopharmacology.
