People who use marijuana often say they're happier than when they're not using cannabis. And now scientists are saying that may actually be true.

A study of marijuana users and non-users in California and Colorado found that people who consume cannabis tend to be happier than people who don't. Marijuana users also make more money, spend more time outdoors and volunteer more than people who do not use marijuana. This data was taken from survey responses from over 2,000 people living in those two states, with around 1,200 of respondents acknowledging that they used cannabis in the past six months.

Now, the study didn't look at how frequently people used marijuana, simply if they had sone so in the past six months. It's possible that people who are daily marijuana users are less happy than occasional cannabis users, but it's also possible that daily users are even more happy.

The people behind the study say they plan on expanding their research into Oregon and Washington to see if they see similar results in those states as they did in Colorado and California.

Interestingly enough, the study found that most people who used marijuana said they don't do it for social or recreational reasons, but rather for therapeutic reasons. This could be physical reasons, such as chronic pain, but also for emotional or mental reasons as well. So it's possible that using marijuana is in fact causing the improvement in their mood, and not just an interesting correlation.

(h/t Fresh Toast)