Teenagers who regularly smoke cannabis risk poor mental health by being less active, a study co-authored by King’s College London found.
The study examined links between cannabis and “leisure time sedentary behaviour” — such as three or more hours of sitting — in 94,035 adolescents aged 12 to 15 from 24 countries, using data from the Global School-based Student Health Survey.
It compared the activity of those who had taken cannabis in the past month with that of non-drug takers.
The study found the former group had a “greater likelihood of being sedentary” outside school hours.
Prevalence of laziness was about 26 per cent among youngsters who did not consume cannabis, but this rose to 56 per cent among those who did.
The study was led by the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven and was co-authored by the King’s Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, and the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust.
The trust’s Dr Brendon Stubbs said: “Our data add further concerns about the potential negative impact of cannabis.”
