Cannabis use and effect of cannabis abstinence on cognitive functioning in young people — an observational case-control follow-up study from rehabilitation centre in Andhra Pradesh

Abstract

Abstract Background Cannabis is the most commonly used illicit substance globally, in India particularly. In recent times, younger people started abusing cannabis, resulting in academic decline and psychological disorders. Research from developed countries had shown that abstinence from cannabis reverses cognitive decline in the young population to a certain extent. Studies on this topic have been very few in India. We intended to assess the effects of cannabis use and abstinence from cannabis on the cognitive functioning of young adults. The study was an observational study including 50 consecutive young male patients, who got admitted to our rehabilitation centre with cannabis use disorder (group A). The Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) test was used to assess the baseline cognitive functioning of these patients initially after 1 week of abstinence and compared with 50 graduate students with no history of cannabis use (group B). The MoCA test was re-administered to group A subjects after 3 months of strict abstinence from cannabis use. Results There was a statistically significant difference between the baseline MoCA score of cannabis users and the controls (P < 0.001). Both the duration (r = −0.296, P = 0.036) and the quantity (r= −0.491, P < 0.001) of cannabis use had a negative correlation with the MoCA score. When the MoCA test was re-administered after 3 months of abstinence, we found a statistically significant improvement in cognitive functioning in cannabis users (P < 0.001), but the mean score was still less than the mean score of the control group (24.08 ± 2.66 vs 28.62 ± 0.85, P < 0.001) showing only partial improvement. Conclusion This study showed that cognitive deficits were seen in cannabis users as compared to nonusers. It also had shown that abstinence from cannabis had partially reversed the impairment, but still some deficits were remaining. There is an urgent need for primary prevention strategies at community level to decrease the prevalence of cannabis use.