There has been much in the media this week about the therapeutic benefits of  cannabis, or lack thereof, but  one study caught my eye, at least from a psychological point of view.

Apparently, couples who enjoy a regular joint together tend to have a pretty chilled relationship.

Okay, okay, it’s hardly ground breaking. But the findings published in the journal Psychology of Addictive Behaviors are in stark contrast to those concerning alcohol’s impact on relationships.

And from that point of view, it’s interesting.

Relationships blighted by alcohol almost always end in tears, but cannabis use seems to tell a different story, at least on one level.

In studying more than 600 couples over the first nine years of marriage, the researchers found that the more they smoked the less likely they were to argue.

Of course, we can’t assume that means these were fabulous, functional couplings, but aggression and conflict were noticeably absent in their lives.

Perhaps they were too stoned to fight. But compare this finding to a previous study in the same journal that looked at both alcohol consumption and cannabis use, and it’s clear alcohol is the worst offender on the home front.

This piece of research found those who regularly hit the bottle increased their odds of physical, sexual or psychological aggression towards their partner. Again, hardly surprising news, but it does illustrate the marked difference in outcomes between the two substances.

The more people drink, the worse the physical, sexual and psychological aggression becomes, say the researchers.

By contrast, cannabis does not increase the odds of any type of aggression.

I’m not suggesting we should all get stoned, but it’s food for thought. I, for one, was under the impression that regular cannabis use would be fundamentally detrimental to any relationship, whichever way you look at it.

And while that doesn’t appear to be the case here, it seems to me that more research is needed before drawing stronger conclusions.

After all, couldn’t the positive results simply be attributed to the fact that the couple is enjoying a common interest, in this case cannabis, and therefore sharing similar values and social circles which would reduce the likelihood of conflict?

Or is cannabis itself the key to marital harmony?

My money is on the former.