Does consuming cannabis extend life expectancy?

There are plenty of marijuana advocates who have made claims over the years that the consumption of cannabis could possibly extend your life expectancy. Is there any proof that smoking weed will make you live longer? How would one go about testing this theory? The first step towards solving this puzzle is to understand that research pertaining to marijuana has been limited in the past due to the prohibited status that the plant has endured. This is especially true when it comes to the health benefits of cannabis. As more states continue to relax regulations pertaining to the use and sale of marijuana, more data will become available to assist with answering this question. The elimination of cannabis prohibition is essential to being able to conduct and compile sustained scientific research on this particular topic. Until more information on this topic is available, the potentially life-extending benefits of cannabis will remain impossible to prove beyond any doubt. Here is what we do know to be true so far.

Those that are looking for existing research to confirm that cannabis use directly impacts your body in a manner that extends life expectancy will be disappointed to discover that such a study does not exist. There has been plenty of discussion in the past about a study from the 1990s that was never formally published. This study concluded that THC-treated rats lived longer and had less cancer than rats not receiving various doses of THC. The study concluded that in both mice and rats, in both male and females, “the incident of benign and malignant neoplasms… were decreased in a dose-dependent manner” – meaning that the more THC the animals were given, the fewer tumors they developed. While this information sounds encouraging, there are plenty of factors and variables to consider such as body weight, appetite and stress levels that will directly impact the life expectancy of an individual.

When trying to determine if cannabis use will extend life expectancy, the answer may be in the ancillary benefits of consuming marijuana. For example, stress is a main culprit in many illnesses to include heart disease. Consuming cannabis is known to reduce stress and anxiety. By eliminating the variables that negatively affect your overall health, it is safe to conclude that you could potentially be extending your life expectancy. More research is needed to definitively conclude if marijuana does or does not have a direct or possibly indirect impact on life expectancy. In the meantime, we will all do a great service to ourselves to work diligently at reducing any and all harmful activities that might be represented in our current lifestyles.