Cannabis users who contracted COVID had “better outcomes and mortality” than non-users

According to a new study based on hospital data presented this week at the American College of Chest annual conference, cannabis users who were infected with COVID-19 had significantly lower rates of intubations, respiratory failure and death than people who did not consumed by doctors (CHEST) in Honolulu.

“Marijuana users had better outcomes and mortality compared to non-users,” the study said, suggesting that the observed benefits may result from cannabis’ “potential to inhibit viral entry into cells and the release of pro-inflammatory ones “To prevent cytokines”.

“The significant decrease in mortality and complications warrants further investigation into the association between marijuana use and COVID-19,” said the report, published in a supplement to the CHEST Journal.

Gina Coleman/Weedmaps

The study’s authors explained the findings in a presentation along with a poster at the annual CHEST conference on Wednesday. They analyzed records of 322,214 patients from the National Inpatient Sample, a government database that tracks hospital utilization and outcomes. Of those patients, 2,603 ​​– less than 1 percent – ​​reported using cannabis.

When the two populations were considered separately, marijuana users “were younger and had a higher prevalence of tobacco use,” the seven-member research team wrote. People who didn’t use marijuana were more likely to have other comorbidities, such as obstructive sleep apnea, obesity, high blood pressure and diabetes.

Cannabis users also had significantly fewer COVID-related health complications:

“In univariate analysis, marijuana users were significantly less likely to experience intubation (6.8% vs. 12%), acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) (2.1% vs. 6%), and acute respiratory failure (25% vs. 52.9 %) and severe sepsis multi-organ failure (5.8% vs. 12%). They also had fewer in-hospital cardiac arrests (1.2% vs. 2.7%) and lower mortality (2.9% vs. 13.5%).”

Using a 1:1 matching analysis that compared marijuana users to non-users by age, race, gender “and 17 other comorbidities, including chronic lung disease,” the team found that cannabis users were less likely to experience intubation, acute respiratory failure, and severe sepsis Organs had failure and morale.

Patients who were under 18 years of age or whose information was missing from the national database were excluded from the study.

Gina Coleman/Weedmaps

While the study uses the term “smoking cannabis,” it also refers to participants who identified themselves as “marijuana users.” It’s not clear whether the research looks specifically at smoking cannabis or also includes other forms of consumption such as e-cigarettes and edibles.

The study’s lead author, Fasih Sami Siddiqui, did not immediately respond to emailed questions from Marijuana Moment.

As the study acknowledges, “there remains a significant gap in our understanding of the potential impact of marijuana use on COVID-19.” There is relatively little in-depth research into how cannabis use and COVID infection interact. A 2022 study came to a different conclusion, finding that cannabis use was associated with a lower risk of getting COVID but also more severe infections.

However, a separate study that same year also found “lower COVID-19 severity” and “significantly better health outcomes” among hospitalized patients.

In particular, a 2022 laboratory study by researchers at Oregon State University found that certain cannabinoids may be able to prevent COVID-19 from entering human cells. However, as doctors at UCLA have noted, this study focused on CBG-A and CBD-A under laboratory conditions and did not examine marijuana smoking by the patients themselves.

Tobacco smoking is now widely viewed as an additional health risk to COVID. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), “You may be more likely to become seriously ill from COVID-19 if you are a current or former cigarette smoker.”

In the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, despite there being little evidence, some cannabis advocates claimed that marijuana or CBD could prevent, treat or even cure a coronavirus infection – a claim that many other advocates warned them against is premature and dangerous.

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In March 2020, for example, former NFL player Kyle Turley — who said medical marijuana changed his life and who now runs his own cannabis brand — made numerous unsubstantiated claims on social media that cannabis “prevents” COVID-19 and ” would heal.”

The tweets, some of which have since been deleted, included statements such as “CBD CAN PREVENT AND CURE CORONA VIRUS” and “CANNABIS WILL PREVENT AND CURE COVID-19!!!!!!!!…start the hate.”

In another now-deleted tweet, Turley appeared to claim that cannabis products were “the cure for cancer.”

In an interview with Marijuana Moment, Turley called his critics “cowards.”

“I worked on my own time and in my free time and took something from my family to advance this conversation. And that’s exactly what I did,” he said. “I was a first-round draft pick, I made millions of dollars, God saved my life through this facility and I live in America. So get used to it,” he said. “And I will continue to spread his word.”

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) later took enforcement action against Turley’s NeuroXPF business.

Others used the pandemic as an argument for marijuana legalization for different reasons. For example, Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont (D) said in November 2020 that legalizing marijuana in his state would prevent the spread of Covid by reducing travel to New Jersey.

This article originally appeared on Marijuana Moment.