unsaveSave
expand-left
full screen People who use cannabis are at greater risk of severe covid symptoms, according to a new study. Archive image. Photo: Markus Schreiber/AP/TT
Cannabis use can increase the risk of severe symptoms in covid-19. This is shown by a new study by researchers at the Washington University School of Medicine in the United States.
The study, published in the scientific journal Jama Network Open, examined patient records from over 72,000 people who had covid-19 during the first two years of the pandemic.
The researchers found that those who used cannabis at least once in the year before becoming ill were 80 percent more likely to be hospitalized, and 27 percent more likely to need intensive care, than those who did not.
According to the study, cannabis use poses roughly the same risk of suffering from severe covid-19 symptoms as regular smoking. However, it differs when it comes to the risk of dying from the disease.
Smokers are at a significantly higher risk of dying from covid-19 than non-smokers, but according to Liu-Shiun Chen, professor of physiology, more research is needed to examine the link between death risk and cannabis use linked to the disease.