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Where the administrative and legal complications are a matter of writing law and policy , and adjusting those when they are successfully challenged , getting to the bottom of the longterm health effects of marijuana use takes research — and lots of it .
“ The problem with understanding how using marijuana impacts firefighters ’ health is the lack of research ,” says Sara Jahnke .” She ’ s a leading industry researcher who launched the Science to the Station : A Health & Wellness Alliance ( Science Alliance for short ), a platform to bring important firefighter health and wellness science to firefighters . “ And that reflects the bigger problem outside the fire service . There just haven ’ t been a lot of studies on cannabis using humans as test subjects .”
There is some evidence that prolonged marijuana use alters how your genes behave . Earlier this year , Lifang Hou , a medical doctor and epidemiologist from Northwestern University , was one of the lead researchers in a study on those genetic changes . Hou ’ s team took blood samples from 1,000 adults who were long-term marijuana users — one sample was drawn 15 years after the participants were identified , the other at 20 years .
" We previously identified associations between marijuana use and the aging process as captured through DNA methylation ," Hou said in a Northwestern University article . " We wanted to explore further whether specific epigenetic factors were associated with marijuana and whether those factors are related to health outcomes . The observed marijuana markers were also associated with cell proliferation , infection and psychiatric disorders . However , additional studies are needed to replicate and verify these findings .”
Yale led a similar study looking at genetics . Those researchers zeroed in on cannabis use disorder which is , as the name implies , the inability to control how
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you use the substance . They examined the U . S . Department of Veterans Affairs ’ Million Veterans Program , one of the world ’ s largest gene databases , as well as other genetic databases .
“ This is the largest genome-wide study of cannabis use disorder ever conducted and as more states legalize or decriminalize the use of marijuana , such studies can help us to understand the public health risks that accompany its increased use ,” one of the study ’ s lead researchers , Joel Gelernter , said in a Yale News article on the research .
In the end , the studies did not prove that marijuana caused these changes or the conditions that followed . More research is needed .
OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE EFFECTS OF MARIJUANA ON THE BRAIN IS IMPERFECT . And your heart ? In 2022 , the American Heart Association issued its scientific statement on marijuana ’ s effects on the brain :
" There ' s a lot of uncertainty in the medical community about the health effects of marijuana . This scientific statement is intended to guide health care professionals in having a balanced and intentional discussion with patients about the potential known and unknown effects of marijuana on brain health ," writing group chair and neurologist Dr . Fernando D . Testai said in an AHA news release . He is a professor of neurology and rehabilitation at the University of Illinois at Chicago .
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Animal studies , AHA says , showed links between marijuana use and symptoms such as reduced memory , learning ability and brain development . However , studies involving humans were less conclusive .
Some studies found a thinning in areas of the brain involved in cognition and orchestrating thoughts and actions . Other studies found no differences in the brains of marijuana users and nonusers . According to the AHA statement , research also shows cannabis users have an increased risk of strokes .
" Our understanding of the effects of marijuana on the brain is imperfect , and human research in this area is a work in progress ," Testai said in the release . " Still , the results of recent animal studies challenge the widely accepted idea that cannabinoids are harmless and call for caution when using marijuana , particularly while pregnant or during adolescence ."
Because marijuana is still classified as a Schedule 1 drug , as is heroin , researchers must obtain Drug Enforcement Agency permission to study its effects , and that can take as long as a year . There are also problems securing marijuana and funding for the research : you can ’ t just call up that dude from high school who always had the best smoke .
“ There is evidence connecting marijuana use and mental health issues like increased risk of suicide , depression , schizophrenia and psychosis ,” Jahnke says . “ There ’ s little research on the general population , but there ’ s less on firefighters . The decision to use cannabis products needs to be an informed one , and there just isn ’ t much information available that ’ s specific to firefighters . Caution is the key until we know more .”
In short , do your homework . You have serious career and legal considerations to wade through . And , with health data so inconclusive , maybe now isn ’ t the time to go full-throttle into the Cheech and Chong lifestyle .
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SCIENCE ALLIANCE |