A new study has potentially good news for cannabis users as we approach the peak of Covid season. It found that people who use cannabis are less likely to experience serious illness or even death.
The study, conducted by Northwell Health in New York and published last week in The Journal of the American Medical Association, Hemp and Cannabinoid Research The medical journal found that cannabis users had better outcomes and mortality rates compared to non-users. Researchers believe that the beneficial effects of drug use may be attributed to its immunomodulatory effects, which help the body fight infection and disease.
To reach their findings, the team analyzed Covid patient data from the National Inpatient Sample Database and then divided patients into two groups based on cannabis use. A total of 322,214 patients were included in the study, of which 2,603 were cannabis users. Users and non-users were then matched to adjust for factors such as age, race, gender, and other comorbidities. Cannabis users also tended to be younger and had a higher prevalence of tobacco use.
Accordingly ForbesIt was found that 28.2% of cannabis users had serious infections, compared to almost twice as many as 46.6% of non-users. Mortality rates were only 2.8% for users and 5.1% for non-users, and intubation rates were 7.1% and 9.7%, respectively. Cannabis users also had shorter hospital stays, 6.4 days compared to non-users, 7.0 days.
“In the initial analysis, cannabis users had significantly lower odds of severe COVID-19 infection, intubation, ARDS, acute respiratory failure, severe sepsis with multiorgan failure, mortality, and shorter hospital stay,” the study authors wrote. “After 1:1 matching, cannabis use was associated with lower odds of severe COVID-19 infection, intubation, ARDS, acute respiratory failure, severe sepsis with multiorgan failure, mortality, and shorter hospital stay.”
This isn’t the first study to link cannabis use to Covid outcomes. In 2022, researchers at Oregon State University published a study that found that certain cannabinoids in naturally occurring biological compounds found in cannabis blocked the virus from entering human cells. The cannabinoid acids, typically found in cannabis varieties of marijuana, had the ability to bind to and neutralize the virus’s spike protein.