According to a new study, you may want to be careful about smoking marijuana as it could lead to a breakthrough Covid-19 case.
Heavy marijuana users who are also vaccinated may be more susceptible to breakthrough cases of COVID-19 says the study, which was published this month in World Psychology.
The study found that those with a substance use disorder (SUD) — a dependence on marijuana, alcohol, cocaine, opioids and tobacco — were more likely to contract the coronavirus after receiving both of their vaccination shots.
The study revealed that SUD saw a 3.6 percent rate of breakthrough infections, compared to a 7 percent rate in those with an SUD.
At 7.8 percent, those with marijuana use disorder were most at risk for breakthrough infections, the study said.
“Patients with cannabis use disorder, who were younger and had less comorbidities than the other SUD subtypes, had higher risk for breakthrough infection even after they were matched for adverse socioeconomic determinants of health and comorbid medical conditions with non-SUD patients,” the researchers in the study wrote.
“Additional variables, such as behavioral factors or adverse effects of cannabis on pulmonary and immune function, could contribute to the higher risk for breakthrough infection in this group.”
“This study is limited to people with ‘substance use disorder’ which is a very small subset of cannabis consumers,” Morgan Fox, media relations director for the National Cannabis Industry Association, told Newsweek.
“This is merely correlation and does not show a causal relationship … individual behavior patterns and social conditions may be a major contributing factor above and beyond simply exhibiting problematic substance use patterns, such as lack of access to reliable information, sharing joints, etc.,” she said.
“Clearly more study is welcome and necessary, but it is important not to overstate or misrepresent the very inconclusive results presented in this particular research and ensure that cannabis consumers are accurately informed about what the newest research actually indicates,” Fox added.
