According to a Leafly report, COVID19, or better known as coronavirus, has become a big concern across the world and smoking marijuana right now might not be the best decision.
Leafly reached out to specialists in the scientific and medical community to find out the risks of smoking marijuana during this time.
Dr. Steffanie Strathdee is an infectious disease epidemiologist believes that at this point in time, smoking is not advisable.
“Right now, we are facing a pandemic where SARS-CoV-2 attacks lung cells, preferentially in the lower respiratory tract. In my view, better to be safe than sorry, so I’d advise anyone who uses marijuana to switch to edibles, especially if they have underlying health conditions like respiratory problems (asthma, COPD), heart problems (hypertension, diabetes), or immune deficiencies,” she said.
Dr. Laura Crotty Alexander, a pulmonary critical care physician who has studied e-cigarettes for over seven years was also consulte dby Leafly.
Dr. Crotty Alexander said, “It has been demonstrated that smoking marijuana damages airway epithelium, increases mucus production, and causes loss of ciliated epithelial cells.” She added, “If cilia are absent or not functional, the mucus will pool in the airways, giving SARS-CoV-2 a chance to make contact with and infect pulmonary epithelial cells.”
