Researchers Assess the Impact of Recreational Cannabis Legalization on Obesity

Researchers from North Dakota State University tracked obesity rates in Washington State from 2002 to 2018. The results of their study, “Cloudy with a Chance of Munchies: Assessing the Impact of Recreational Marijuana Legalization on Obesity,” were published in the journal Health Economics.

Obesity in the United States is considered by many to be the most serious “epidemic” in public health over the past century. The authors of the study believe that recent legislative changes allowing recreational marijuana use make it necessary to better understand the relationship between cannabis consumption and its effects on obesity.

The researchers used a synthetic control approach to examine the impact of legalized access to recreational cannabis on obesity rates, comparing Washington State to an artificially constructed counterfactual. This method does not rely on fixed “facts” like traditional historical science, but instead uses alternative scenarios without questioning the established historical timeline.

The study found that the legalization of recreational marijuana did not lead to an increase in obesity rates and, most likely, resulted in a decrease in these rates.

The researchers are confident that as more states move toward decriminalization and expand the use of marijuana for medical and recreational purposes, these findings provide important insights for modern drug policy.

With the spread of legalization, more researchers are testing long-standing theories about how cannabis may actually benefit consumers. For example, another study conducted in Sweden in 2016 showed that cannabis users had a slightly lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes compared to non-users. A more recent study also debunked the myth that cannabis makes people lazy and unmotivated.