Can Marijuana Use Lead To Poorer COVID-19 Outcomes?

While diabetes, obesity, and a history of smoking cigarettes are considered risk factors for poorer COVID-19 outcomes, a new study claims that people with cannabis use disorder (CUD) may also be at increased risk.

There have been many warnings for people having comorbid diseases and other addictions like drinking and smoking, regarding the severe outcomes, since the onset of COVID-19. A new study claims that people with Cannabis Use Disorder (CUD) may also be at increased risk.

The research from the Washington University in St Louis used genetic epidemiological models to determine that genetic predisposition to CUD is related to risk for a severe reaction to Covid-19. Having genetic variants does not mean a person has CUD or that the person has used cannabis. But, comparing people with the variants to their Covid outcomes, the researchers found genetic liability for CUD accounted for up to 40 percent of genetically influenced risk factors, such as body mass index (BMI) and diabetes, for a severe Covid-19 presentation.

This association suggested that heavy and problematic cannabis use may represent a modifiable pathway to minimize severe Covid-19 presentations, the researchers explained, in the journal Biological Psychiatry: Global Open Access.

The study point to two possible outcomes: That a predisposition to CUD and severe Covid-19 are due to a common biological mechanism, like inflammatory conditions causing individuals to develop worse symptoms of Covid-19 and/or dependence on cannabis; or that they are associated because of a causal process, said Alexander S. Hatoum, a postdoctoral researcher at the varsity.

"If we know the genes that predispose individuals to cannabis use disorder, and if cannabis use disorder is a risk factor for Covid-19 hospitalization, you will see the genes influencing cannabis use disorder as predictors of severe Covid-19 cases," he said.

"We found that a person's genetic risk for cannabis use disorder is correlated with their risk for COVID-19, without having to ask directly about illegal substance use," he added.

“As sociocultural attitudes and laws surrounding cannabis use become increasingly permissive, and COVID-19 continues to spread, we need to better understand how cannabis use, as well as heavy and problematic forms of use, are associated with COVID outcomes,” said Ryan Bogdan, associate professor in the Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences in Arts & Sciences.

“That the genetic relationship between CUD and COVID-19 is independent of these factors raises the intriguing possibility that heavy and problematic cannabis use may contribute to severe COVID-19 presentations. As such, it is possible that combating heavy and problematic cannabis use may help mitigate the impact of COVID-19,” Hatoum said.

For the study, the team combined existing datasets to test whether being at higher genetic risk for cannabis use disorder was correlated to the risk of Covid hospitalization.

One set of data involved 357,806 people, including 14,080 with CUD; the other involved 1,206,629 people, including 9,373 who were hospitalized with COVID. They also looked at 7 million genetic variants to assess the association between CUD and severe Covid.