note, nearly half of the studies that assess cannabis use in PTSD, as well as its potential therapeutic effects, were conducted in U.S. military veterans, who exhibit high comorbidities of cannabis use and CUD, commonly reporting the use of cannabis to cope with one’s traumatic experiences [8, 45, 62, 78, 80, 98, 104, 105, 153]. This population may be the most benefited by research in this area based on the high prevalence of cannabis use, which may have positive or negative effects on recovery. Despite no association between cannabis use and PTSD development, there are reported harmful effects from cannabis use on psychiatric outcomes in PTSD. There are also, however, non-significant associations that have been concluded between cannabis use and PTSD symptomatology. Additionally, reported benefits are minimal and involve mixed findings across studies. Accordingly, further research is required using prospective, controlled clinical designs to understand the relationship between cannabis and PTSD.
