Is Dried Cannabis Flower Right for You?

Know the risks

Patients should talk to their health care practitioner or their Medical Cannabis Dispensary pharmacist if they have questions about whether or not smokable medical cannabis is right for them.

Research on the use of medical cannabis is limited, and scientists continue to learn how cannabis may help or harm people. Some patients may get immediate symptom relief by smoking medical cannabis, although the effects may wear off quickly.

Potential risks

• Smoked cannabis may damage a person's lungs and respiratory system.¹
• Secondhand cannabis smoke contains many of the same toxic and cancer-causing chemicals found in tobacco smoke, with some of those chemicals in higher amounts.²
• Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the compound in cannabis that is responsible for the product's psychoactive effects (or the high), may be passed to people through secondhand smoke.³

To avoid potential risks of secondhand smoke, patients who smoke medical cannabis should do so away from others, especially children and people who may have asthma or other respiratory conditions.

Resources

• Important Information and Warnings about Using Medical Cannabis (PDF)
• CDC Cannabis and Public Health FAQ

¹ National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. The health effects of cannabis and cannabinoids: the current state of evidence and recommendations for research. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press; 2017.

² Moir D, Rickert WS, Levasseur G, et al. A comparison of mainstream and sidestream marijuana and tobacco cigarette smoke produced under two machine smoking conditions. Chemical Research in Toxicology. 2008;21(2):494-502.

³ Taylor DR, Poulton R, Moffitt TE, Ramankutty P, Sears MR. The respiratory effects of cannabis dependence in young adults. Addiction. 2000;95(11):1669-1677.