New Study Confirms Pot Smokers are Happy, Well Adjusted and Successful

Not to be that person who says “I told you so,” but a new study has concluded that pot smokers are not a bunch of lazy slackers but indeed well-adjusted human beings who cross a large swath of society’s diverse types of individuals.

The landmark new study conducted by BDS Analytics, entitled “Cannabis Consumers are Happy Campers,” surveyed 2,000 California and Colorado adults, with a quota of 1,200 people who have used marijuana within the past six months.

The logic was to gather info from a population sample that was representative of the general public.

Their subjects, according to BDS’s research division page, were comprised of “consumers” to “acceptors,” who don’t consume but might consider it, as well as “rejecters” who don’t consume and don’t want to.

“One theme that clearly emerges from the research is the overall healthy well-being of cannabis consumers… when compared to ‘acceptors’ and ‘rejecters,’” the report reads, breaking down the myth of cannabis consumers and work ethic.

Researchers found that the average annual household income among California cannabis consumers is $93,800, compared to $72,800 for ‘acceptors’ and $75,900 for ‘rejecters.’

Twenty percent of cannabis consumers also hold master’s degrees, compared to 13 percent of ‘acceptors’ and 12 percent of ‘rejecters.’

Colorado consumers were more satisfied with their lives now than they were a year ago and more likely to enjoy the fine arts, social activities and outdoor recreation than the acceptors and rejecters.

Sixty-four percent of Colorado consumers enjoyed being employed full-time, with just over 51 percent of acceptors and 54 percent of rejecters.

“Cannabis consumers are far removed from the caricatures historically used to describe them,” said Linda Gilbert, head of the consumer research division at BDS Analytics. “In fact, positive lifestyle indicators like volunteering, socializing, satisfaction with life and enjoyment of exercise and the outdoors are highest among cannabis consumers, at least in Colorado and California.”

The study will be updated every six months indefinitely. BDS will do its next research on this topic in Washington and Oregon.

“The aim is that this will eventually be a national study,” Gilbert said. “I hope and expect that 10 to 20 years from now, this study will still be continuing.”

“The thing everyone agrees on,” Gilbert continued, “is that cannabis can impair your ability to drive, and that we need tests to determine if you are driving under the influence.”

BDS Analytics is obsessed, in a good way, with gathering factual data within the cannabis sector and prides itself on “enabling dispensaries, brands, and growers to sustain their success.”

So, they love doing studies like this one, and we love reading them.

You can keep up with all of HIGH TIMES’ marijuana news right here.