About 1,000 New Zealanders from birth to age 38 were surveyed and asked to self-report marijuana usage at various ages of their life. With the exception of a decline in periodontal health, virtually no adverse physical effects were noted.
For the survey, the research team “assessed a dozen measures of physical health, including lung function, systemic inflammation and several measures of metabolic syndrome, including waist circumference, HDL cholesterol, triglycerides, blood pressure, glucose control and body mass index.”
No adverse effects were discovered in those areas for pot smokers, as they were in tobacco smokers, and there appear to be no negative physical long-term effects. However, other negative side effects were discovered, according to Madeline Meier, an assistant professor of psychology at Arizona State University who conducted the study with colleagues at Duke University, King’s College in the UK and the University of Otago in New Zealand.
“We don’t want people to think, ‘Hey, marijuana can’t hurt me,’ because other studies on this same sample of New Zealanders have shown that marijuana use is associated with increased risk of psychotic illness, IQ decline and downward socioeconomic mobility,” Meier said.
Avshalom Caspi, who co-authored the study, says while marijuana is certainly not harmless, its negative effects aren’t as bad as once believed.
“What we’re seeing is that cannabis may be harmful in some respects, but possibly not in every way,” said Caspi. “We need to recognize that heavy recreational cannabis use does have some adverse consequences, but overall damage to physical health is not apparent in this study.”
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