1 of 2 | Among patients diagnosed with COVID-19, those who used marijuana had a higher risk of hospitalization and intensive care unit admission, a new study from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis found. Photo by Harrison Haines/ NEW YORK, June 21 (UPI) — Among patients diagnosed with COVID-19 , those who used marijuana had a higher risk of hospitalization and intensive care unit admission, a new study indicates.
The study, conducted at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, was published Friday in JAMA Network Open.
Researchers found a greater chance of COVID-19-related complications among marijuana users than abstainers, even after accounting for cigarette smoking, vaccination status, two or more co-existing diseases, and other risk factors.
"These findings suggest the need to evaluate the potential impact of cannabis use on COVID-19 outcomes, given the growing legalized use of cannabis," the study’s authors wrote. Related
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"For cannabis, there is this general perception of it being safe. We wanted to know the actual impact," the study’s corresponding author, Dr. Li-Shiun Chen, a professor of psychiatry at Washington University School of Medicine, told UPI in a telephone interview.
"That’s the only way we can do better in the future — by looking and learning from all the patients," Chen said, adding that the researchers were fortunate to have data from a very large health system.Researchers used electronic health record data from Washington University Medical Center from Feb. 1, 2020, to Jan. 31, 2022, to conduct their investigation.They included 72,501 people, with an average age of 48.9, who were identified as having COVID-19 during at least one health care visit to a large academic medical center.Of these patients, 59.7% were female, 13.4% were current smokers, 24.4% were former smokers and 9.7% had present-day marijuana use.Current tobacco smoking was significantly associated with increased risk of hospitalization. Cannabis use also was greatly linked to heightened risk of hospitalization and intensive-care admission, but not with death from all […]
Pot use seems to contribute to more severe cases of COVID-19, study finds
