Article Impact Level: HIGH Data Quality: STRONG Summary of Journal of General Internal Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-025-09833-8 Dr. Alison S. Rustagi et al.
Points
- Inhaled cannabis use is significantly associated with an increased risk of asthma in adults.
- This association with asthma persists even among individuals who have never used tobacco cigarettes.
- Inhaled cannabis use also shows an overall association with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
- The link between cannabis and COPD was not statistically significant in non-tobacco users.
- Cannabis may be a modifiable risk factor for both asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Summary
This population-based cross-sectional study investigated the association between inhaled cannabis use and the prevalence of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in adults, independent of tobacco cigarette use. Utilizing data from the 2016–2020 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System surveys, a large cohort of n=379,049 adults aged 18–74 years was analyzed. Among these, n=23,035 reported past-30-day inhaled cannabis use, ranging from 0 to 30 days of use. Multivariable logistic regression, adjusted for sociodemographics and tobacco cigarette use (current/former/never), was employed to assess the association.
The key findings revealed a significant association between inhaled cannabis use and asthma overall, with daily use demonstrating an adjusted odds ratio (aOR) of 1.44 (95% CI 1.26–1.63). This association remained significant even when restricting the analysis to n=221,767 individuals with no lifetime tobacco cigarette use, yielding an aOR of 1.51 (95% CI 1.18–1.93) for daily cannabis use. For COPD, inhaled cannabis was also associated with an increased prevalence overall (aOR 1.27 for daily use, 95% CI 1.10–1.46).
However, in the sub-analysis of individuals with no lifetime tobacco cigarette use, the association between daily inhaled cannabis use and COPD showed an elevated odds (aOR 1.54) but did not reach statistical significance (95% CI 0.92–2.57). These results suggest that inhaled cannabis is independently associated with asthma, and potentially with COPD, after accounting for tobacco cigarette exposure. The study concludes that cannabis may represent a modifiable risk factor for both asthma and COPD, warranting further investigation into its long-term pulmonary effects.
Link to the article: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11606-025-09833-8
References
Rustagi, A. S., Jeffers, A. M., Graham, F. J., Cohen, B. E., Slatore, C. G., Byers, A. L., Glantz, S. A., & Keyhani, S. (2025). Inhaled cannabis, asthma, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: A population-based cross-sectional study of n = 379,049. Journal of General Internal Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-025-09833-8
