I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s causal, but it could also be that more naturally empathetic people trend towards weed to cope with the reality that our society is brutal and predatory and uncaring. I know I need weed just to cope with living in a fascist society where almost everyone around me shrugs their shoulders at genocide.

Also it could be shared confounding variables like the fact that more poor, young and POC people smoke, and old rich white people have drained themselves of all empathy