Study finds legal cannabis promotes more physical activity

It’s time to throw out the lazy stoner myth. Yet another study has found that cannabis promotes more physical activity—not less! Published in the Journal of Cannabis Research, this recent study found that cannabis, particularly legal cannabis, is linked to greater levels of physical activity. 

The study found legal medical cannabis is associated with increased activity for those experiencing chronic medical conditions. Meanwhile, legal recreational cannabis is associated with even greater increases in physical activity for those without these conditions. 

Will cannabis make you lazy or active? 

On the other hand, a number of studies have found that cannabis use is associated with more physical activity in adults, including exercise and light activity like walking.

Being sedentary is tied to a lot of health issues, such as cancer, obesity, and diabetes. But in the US, most adults don’t meet the suggested levels of exercise to stay healthy. So, it’s important to know if a substance like cannabis will cause disruptions to your physical activity levels. Many studies have investigated this, but the results have been mixed.

Some evidence has suggested cannabis use can lead to increases in sedentary behavior for teenagers. One 2017 study also found a tie between less physical activity and cannabis use in adults. 

On the other hand, a number of studies have found that cannabis use is associated with more physical activity in adults, including exercise and light activity like walking. One study also found that teens aged 15-18 who exercised more had higher levels of cannabis use. 

Study limitations could explain inconsistent findings

These inconsistent findings could be due to the fact that studies defined physical activity in a variety of ways, with different studies including different types of activity. But they could also be due to limitations in the studies showing less physical activity. 

These studies didn’t control for factors like chronic conditions, which could explain both early cannabis use and sedentary lifestyles. While pain can both reduce physical activity and motivate cannabis use, these associations could be misunderstood as cannabis causing the reductions in activity. 

Does legality or health status change cannabis’ impact? 

The authors of this new study were motivated to find out whether the association between cannabis and physical activity would remain if they controlled for certain factors, like chronic medical conditions and whether cannabis is legal. 

They hypothesized that greater physical activity would be associated with current cannabis use. They also thought there would be more physical activity in states with legal cannabis, and that cannabis use would help those with chronic conditions stay more active. 

To study this, they analyzed the 2016-2022 data from a cross-sectional study conducted each year on 400,000 adults in the US. The questionnaire included questions to assess physical activity, cannabis use frequency, medical conditions, demographic characteristics, and whether cannabis is legal for medical and/or recreational use in their area. With this, they were able to look for any statistically significant associations between cannabis use, physical activity, and the other factors involved.   

Legal cannabis consumers are more active

The results of the analysis supported all three of the researchers’ hypotheses. 

There were significant associations between cannabis use and increased physical activity. Cannabis use has almost doubled between 2016 and 2022, going from 7.48% to 14.71%. Physical activity levels also went up by 3.5% during that time. Throughout the time studied, the association remained strong between cannabis use and more physical activity. 

There were significant associations between cannabis use and increased physical activity.

More physical activity was also associated with areas that had legal recreational or medical cannabis. Cannabis use was also 6.5% higher in areas with legal recreational cannabis, and 0.7% higher in areas with legal medical cannabis (compared to areas where it is illegal). 

Importantly, the association between physical activity and cannabis use frequently depended on the legal status of cannabis—with the association dropping away for illegal cannabis use. Only using legal cannabis was associated with more physical activity, with the highest levels associated with legal recreational cannabis. 

The authors argue that “it may be that the greater flexibility in how a person can use cannabis because of legalization for recreation can explain this result.” Those free to use cannabis however they see fit may be more likely to use it to encourage exercise.

Legal medical cannabis boosts activity in chronic illness

The results also supported the third hypothesis, that cannabis use would mediate how much someone could exercise if they had a chronic illness. Each year, those with a chronic condition had consistently lower levels of physical activity than those without. But for cannabis consumers, this association did not remain significant, suggesting that cannabis use allows those with chronic conditions to stay more active. 

While this study adds to the growing body of evidence that cannabis is beneficial for physical activity, it is limited. The survey only asked about specific conditions, and did not ask if they were controlled or consistent, which may have shifted results. Since it was a survey, physical activity and cannabis use were self-reported and not measured physically.

Although many variables were controlled for, it was underpowered to be able to show causal relationships between cannabis and physical activity. 

Still, the results suggest that cannabis may allow for more physical activity, something that benefits those with and without chronic health conditions.