Study Suggests Marijuana Use May Reduce Alcohol-Related Liver Damage

According to recent research from the National Research Institute at the University of Quebec, smoking marijuana may help reduce the negative effects of alcohol on the liver. This was reported by Tonic.

“We found that people who regularly use marijuana are more protected from alcohol-induced liver diseases,” said Terence Bukong, a hepatologist and one of the study’s authors.

The scientists analyzed medical records of nearly 320,000 patients with a history of alcohol abuse. The data showed that alcohol-dependent individuals who did not smoke marijuana had about a 90% chance of developing liver diseases. For those who regularly combined alcohol with marijuana use, this figure dropped to just 1.36%. In other words, the study suggests that marijuana use may significantly reduce the impact of alcohol on the liver.

As Tonic notes, it is still too early to draw definitive conclusions about the relationship between marijuana use and diseases caused by alcohol consumption. However, the published study aligns with findings from another recent report, which indicated that non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is less common among regular marijuana users (who were also less likely to be obese).

According to Seedo, a startup that produces “smart” devices for growing marijuana, Moscow ranks ninth in the world for marijuana consumption. In 2017, residents of the Russian capital smoked more than 22 tons of marijuana over the course of the year.