Constipation and Recreational Marijuana Use

Understanding of the impact of recreational marijuana use on bowel motility is limited.

A study by Adeyinka Adejumo, MD, North Shore Medical Center (Salem, MA), and colleagues at Massachusetts General Hospital, investigated the effect of recreational marijuana use on self-reported bowel function among a large cohort of adults in the United States. The results were originally presented at Digestive Disease Week (DDW) 2019.

The results showed that recent recreational marijuana use was associated with a decreased risk of constipation.

Consultant360 caught up with Dr Adejumo about the research.

Consultant360: What prompted you to conduct the study?

Adeyinka Adejumo: Marijuana is a prevailing substance used in the United States. Current estimates project that over half of all Americans have used marijuana once in their lifetime, of which 8% are active users. Since marijuana is the most used substance among teenagers and adults, it is projected to be the most used substance by the time their generation progresses to middle age and older age. Unfortunately, the health effects of marijuana are unknown, especially the impact of marijuana on constipation, which affects over 12% of Americans. We performed this study to understand the relationship between marijuana use and constipation.

C360: What do you think is the most important finding?

Dr Adejumo: We discovered that marijuana use was associated with 30% decreased risk of constipation, which persisted after adjusting for age and other demographic factors including sex, ethnicity, education, BMI, and socioeconomic status. The likelihood of constipation with marijuana use remained lower after further adjusting for comorbidities, alcohol use, tobacco use, constipating medications, general health condition, and rigorous physical activity.

C360: How can the findings be applied to clinical practice?

Dr Adejumo: Before our results can be applied to clinical practice, more studies need to be performed. Importantly, our study results concluded that consumption of marijuana decreased the risk of constipation, whereas previous studies included only 1 ingredient in marijuana and suggested that marijuana use may increase the risk of constipation. More studies are also needed to validate our findings. If confirmed, this may open up an exciting possibility of a role of cannabinoids as one of our management options for patients with constipation.

C360: What are the next steps of your research?

Dr Adejumo: The next logical studies to be performed should examine how strains of marijuana with varying composition of cannabinoids, as well as different modes of marijuana use, may impact constipation. Furthermore, we need laboratory physiologic studies to investigate the interaction of different cannabinoids on constipation, which can provide a better understanding of the motility effects of the marijuana plant.

For more on the study, click here.