Recent studies have linked cannabis use to increased rates of asthma, highlighting potential public health concerns as cannabis consumption increases.Asthma is more common among Americans who smoked marijuana within the past 30 days, and the odds of asthma were greater among those who smoked marijuana 20 to 30 days a month, according to a new study from researchers at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, City University of New York, and George Washington University Nationwide Children's Hospital.
To date, little is known about adolescent marijuana use and its relationship to asthma. The findings were published in the journal Preventive Medicine.
The findings showed that the more frequently you smoked, the more likely you were to develop asthma, with little change after adjusting for smoking.
"As marijuana use continues to increase across the United States, understanding the potential link between marijuana use and asthma is of increasing relevance to population health. This relationship is an emerging area that requires in-depth collaborative investigation by experts in these fields," said corresponding author Renee Goodwin, Ph.D., Department of Epidemiology, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and Epidemiology, CUNY.
Data comes from the 2020 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, an annual representative survey of 32,893 people ages 12 and older in the United States. Researchers used regression models to examine the relationship between the frequency of smoking any marijuana and/or blunt mode (i.e., smoking marijuana in a hollowed-out cigar) in the past 30 days among individuals with current asthma in relation to demographics and current smoking status.
People who reported using marijuana in the past 30 days were more likely to have current asthma than those who did not report using marijuana (10% vs. 7.4%). People who reported using marijuana 20-30 days per month and blunt-use marijuana (6-15 days and 20-30 days per month, respectively) had significantly higher odds of having asthma than those who did not have asthma. Overall, the asthma prevalence in the sample was 7.4%.
The researchers concluded: "Our findings are the first to show a link between community cannabis use and respiratory health risks, specifically increased asthma incidence, adding an important piece to the emerging body of research on the potential harms of cannabis use. Research on asthma incidence in adolescents and adults helps inform public health initiatives and policies aimed at mitigating asthma risk and highlights the importance of understanding the interaction between cannabis use and respiratory health."
Compiled source: ScitechDaily