A study out of the University of Kentucky looked into the association of state-level medical and recreational cannabis laws with cannabis use disorder (CUD) and “poisonings”. Here’s what they found.
CUD is a condition whereby a person demonstrates problematic pattern of cannabis use that causes negative impacts in their life, but they continue to use it.
This longitudinal cohort study noted CUD and cannabis poisoning diagnoses from January 2011 to December 2021 across all 50 US states and the District of Columbia before and after medical and recreational cannabis laws were rolled out. This was a big study, involving 110,256,536 enrolees.
The researchers found states with legalized medical cannabis saw a 42.7% increase in CUD and 88.6% jump in cannabis poisoning, compared to states without legalized medical cannabis. For states that have legalized recreational cannabis, they experienced a 31.6% increase in cannabis poisoning incidents compared to states that hadn’t.
In their conclusion, the researchers state:
“Communities with increased access to cannabis may experience increased health care use and costs due to increases in cannabis poisoning and CUD, and new clinical and policy interventions are needed to curb these rising diagnoses.”
The study has been published in the journal JAMA Psychiatry.
Another study published early in 2024, this one out of Australia, reviewed 14 eligible publications with studies involving 3681 participants from five different countries. The researchers found 25% of individuals using cannabis medicinally had CUD; based on DSM-5 criteria for the condition. Those in the 18–29 year-old age bracket were more likely to develop CUD than older people.
Estimates for the prevalence of CUD in the general population vary wildly; but the USA’s Centers for Disease Control indicates approximately 3 in 10 people who use cannabis have CUD. The CDC notes the average concentration of delta-9 THC in marijuana – the cannabinoid most often associated with intoxication – had almost doubled from 9% in 2008 to 17% in 2017 – and it would be even higher today.
“Researchers do not yet know the full extent of the consequences when the body and brain are exposed to high concentrations of THC or how recent increases in concentrations affect the risk of someone developing cannabis use disorder,” states the CDC.
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