Come to think of it, I see far fewer obese people at Hempfest than Wal-Mart...
I love watching the media report on marijuana stories. It turns out, according to separate analyses of US data by researchers in France, that Americans who smoke pot are less likely to be obese than non-toking counterparts.
“Cannabis is supposed to increase appetite,” says Dr. Yann Le Strat, a psychiatrist at Louis-Mourier Hospital in Colombes, France and co-author of a new study in the American Journal of Epidemiology. “So we hypothesized that cannabis users would be more likely to have higher weight than non-users and be more likely to be obese.”
Instead, Le Strat and his colleagues found just the opposite.
It reminds me of Dr. Tashkin, hypothesizing that cannabis smokers must have greater incidence of cancer than non smokers and finding just the opposite (“Study Finds No Cancer-Marijuana Connection” Wash. Post, 2006).
What Dr. Le Strat found in two separate surveys is that 22% and 25.3% of the non-tokers were obese. Only 14.3% and 17.2% of tokers who admitted to three-times-a-week use of cannabis were obese (this writer notwithstanding).
The initial reports were careful to note that this doesn’t mean smoking pot helps you lose weight. Gawker fairly reported “Pot Smokers Less Likely to Be Obese” and led with munchie jokes, but other outlets ran headlines like “How To Fight Obesity? Maybe Try Smoking Marijuana” and “Fight obesity… with marijuana?” and my favorite, “Marijuana: The Newest and Laziest Weight Loss Craze Sweeping the Nation“.
So what gives? I have many ideas:
- pot smokers are less likely to be drinking calorie-laden beers,
- there are a lot of hippie-vegan-bicycling stoners out there,
- people who can afford marijuana can afford healthier eating habits,
- people who can’t afford marijuana eat out less to be able to afford marijuana,
- the calories burned just trying to get to fast food outlets outweigh the calories of the burger (see: Harold & Kumar)
- medical marijuana patients aren’t affected by the pharmaceutical side effects that cause weight gain,
- cannabis use makes any munchies tasty, even celery sticks and carrots,
- people who are already healthy are more likely to choose a safer substance,
- people who do undertake exercise stick to it better with a high (see: American Beauty).
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I know smoking pot won’t make me thin but I like to do a lot of athletic activities after smoking pot; which may partly explain why, despite my terrible diet, I’m not obese. For example, I’m probably one of those few who loves to go running while stoned out of their gourds. It’s something I’ve been doing since college. Give me a pair of running shoes, a cool playlist on the iPod, and some kine bud, and I’ll clear a cool 8 or 9 miles happily.
I know many readers here are not thrilled with comments about God, but maybe if we use the things God gave us instead of manufactured items, the body just functions more efficiently.
Like most correlations, the link is likely socio-economic. People of greater socio-economic status are more likely to have better diets (better access to healthier food, more likely to afford healthier food, more educated regarding healthy diets, etc) and engage in greater physical activity. Persons of greater socio-economic status are also more likely to be able to afford and use cannabis.
I definitely agree with the part about regular tokers drinking less beer. When I was in the Navy and not allowed to smoke canabis I drank regularly and it showed in my waist line, even though I worked out at least 3-4 times a week. Once I got out and was able to toke again I stopped drinking so much and started loosing weight even though I wasn’t nearly as physically active as I was when I was in the Navy.