Marijuana, also called cannabis, is now more popular than ever in the United States.
Many states have made it legal, and in 2019, about 48 million Americans—nearly 1 in 5 people—said they used it, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Even though more people are using marijuana, we still don’t fully understand how it affects our health in the long run.
Marijuana comes from a plant called Cannabis sativa. People often smoke it in rolled-up paper (called joints) or in water pipes (called bongs). It can also be used in teas or mixed into food.
As it becomes more accepted, researchers are looking at what it does to the body over time. A recent study from Northwestern Medicine offers new information about how marijuana may affect our DNA.
The study was led by Dr. Lifang Hou, a cancer researcher. Her team looked at blood samples from over 900 adults who had taken part in a heart health study. These adults gave blood samples five years apart. The researchers asked them about their marijuana use during that time, including how recently and how often they had used it.
The goal was to find out if marijuana use was linked to changes in DNA. The team focused on something called DNA methylation. This is a natural process where small chemicals attach to DNA and can turn certain genes on or off. These changes don’t change the DNA itself, but they can affect how it works.
The researchers found that people who used marijuana had between 16 and 132 changes in their DNA. These changes were found in areas that help control how cells grow, how hormones work, and how the immune system responds to illness. Some changes were also connected to mental health issues like schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and addiction.
However, this study doesn’t prove that marijuana causes these DNA changes. It only shows that there is a link. More research is needed to understand what these changes mean and whether they cause health problems.
This study gives scientists a reason to keep exploring. For example, do these DNA changes last a long time? Do they increase the risk of heart problems or mental illness as people get older? Do people with different genetics or lifestyles have different reactions to marijuana? These are questions researchers hope to answer in the future.
As marijuana becomes more common and easier to get, it’s important to learn more about how it affects the body. Some research shows marijuana might help with things like depression or brain aging. But this new study is a reminder that we still have a lot to learn about how it works inside us.
The research was published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry and marks a big step in understanding marijuana’s deeper effects. In the coming years, more studies will help us know the full story—so we can make better choices about using marijuana, both as individuals and as a society.
If you care about high blood pressure, please read studies about unhealthy habits that may increase high blood pressure risk, and drinking green tea could help lower blood pressure.
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