Research from Washington State University (WSU), and published in The Journal of Affective Disorders, is reporting some people find their symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) dramatically drop after smoking cannabis. The study suggests the improvements may only be beneficial in the short-term, and more research is necessary to understand the long-term effect of cannabis use on OCD.
This new WSU study is not a controlled clinical trial, but instead it relies on self-reported user data gathered by a smartphone app called Strainprint. This Canadian app was designed to offer personalized information for patients, enabling real-time tracking of medical symptoms against specific strains of cannabis.
In this case, subjects can report the severity of their OCD symptoms, before and after cannabis use, offering researchers a way to follow the efficacy of cannabis as a treatment in real-time, and in relation to the varying THC or CBD levels from strain to strain. The WSU team has produced three prior studies analyzing Strainprint data, most notably finding many cannabis users self-administer the drug to treat severe headaches and migraines.