Study, 2025
Do women use cannabis more during certain menstrual cycle phases, and does mood affect when they use it?
Women use cannabis more frequently during the premenstrual phase, and whether they use it to manage mood or physical pain depends on how depressed or angry they feel during different cycle phases.
What they did
Asked 40 women who had used cannabis in the past month to report, looking back over 65 days, when they used cannabis, what negative feelings they had, and their reasons for use (to cope with mood, manage physical pain, or other reasons). The researchers looked for patterns across menstrual cycle phases.
What they found
Cannabis use was more frequent during the premenstrual phase but not during menstruation. Cannabis use for managing physical pain was greater in the menstrual phase. Among women with higher depression who used cannabis to cope, use was more frequent at ovulation. Among women with lower depression, coping-related use was more frequent premenstrually. Women with lower anger (but not higher anger) showed more coping-related use during the premenstrual phase. Women with higher overall negative feelings showed more physical pain-related use during menstruation.
What it means for you
Some women may increase cannabis use during certain menstrual phases to manage mood or physical symptoms. Whether they use it for mood or pain depends on their feelings and the cycle phase. This is a small study based on women's memories of use and feelings over two months, so findings need confirmation in larger studies. The study does not show whether cannabis actually helps PMS symptoms.
40
women in study
65
days tracked
About the study
- Original title
- Cannabis use across the menstrual cycle: The impact of negative affect and cannabis use motives
- Authors
- Morris PE, Soto PL, Buckner JD
- Journal
- Addictive behaviors
- Year
- 2025
- Study design
- Study
- Participants
- 40
- What was tested
- Cannabis use (observational; women chose their own use patterns)
- Open access
- Yes
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2025.108284
Topics
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