It will come as no surprise to those who enjoy the odd spliff but cannabis really could help you deal with stress.

Scientists have identified a chemical called cannabidiol which they hope to extract from marijuana plants to treat post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and phobias. The idea is that it helps calm you down, without you having to get high all the time.

Tackles the fear

Anxiety is driven by fear – research suggests that cannabidiol dilutes fear by changing the brain’s activity.

“Cannabis is best known for the ‘high’ caused by the chemical Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). But it contains many other chemicals with potential medicinal properties, including cannabidiol,” said Dr Carl Stevenson, of the University of Nottingham.

“This chemical isn’t linked to the cannabis ‘high’ and it is safe for people to use so it might be helpful for alleviating certain symptoms of these disorders without having the unwanted side effects of cannabis,” he added.

More research is needed before cannabidiol can be prescribed to patients suffering from fear-related issues or any substance abuse stemming from them, he cautioned.

“Cannabis is best known for the ‘high’ caused by the chemical Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). But it contains many other chemicals with potential medicinal properties, including cannabidiol”

- Carl Stevenson

There are still questions about how the treatment would be administered and the effects it may have on emotional memory processes.

More research needed

Most of the studies into the substance have been conducted on animals and more research is needed to see how well it works in humans.

“Understanding how cannabidiol regulates emotion and emotional memory processing may eventually lead to its use as a treatment for anxiety-related and substance abuse disorders,” said Dr Stevenson, whose study is published in the British Journal of Pharmacology.

Assuming cannabidiol does work effectively in humans it may have significant advances over current treatments for anxiety, which do not work for every patient and can take a while to take effect.

Furthermore, they often include side-effects such as drowsiness, weight gain or sexual dysfunction, he said.

By contrast, separate research into cannabidiol use for epilepsy suggests the chemical does not tend to have significant side effects.