Researchers Mitchell Earleywine of the University of Albany and Thomas Denson of the University of Southern California studied three categories of test subjects: those who have never smoked marijuana, those who smoke daily, and those who smoke weekly. The study, which involved 4,400 people, found that the daily and weekly smokers were less depressed than the abstainers.

"I expected that depression would be even, that the groups wouldn't differ at all," said Earleywine. "I never thought the users would be less depressed."

A spokesperson for the federal Office of National Drug Control Policy called Earleywine's findings biased, accusing the researcher of being pro-marijuana. The study was funded by the Marijuana Policy Project, which endorses marijuana legalization.

"I'm not at all surprised that people who are daily smokers self-report that they feel pretty good," said ONDCP spokesperson David Murray, who said the drug alters body chemistry so that users fell worse when they stop using.

Earleywine said the findings don't necessarily mean that smoking marijuana makes users less depressed. "They may just have a more mellow attitude about everything," he said. "So if they're less concerned about cannabis, they're probably less concerned about other things."

The study was published in the journal Addictive Behaviors.

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