Abstract
Cannabis continues to be the most used drug in the world today. Research shows that cannabis use is associated with a wide range of adverse health consequences that may involve almost every physiological and biochemical system including respiratory/pulmonary complications such as chronic cough and emphysema, impairment of immune function, and increased risk of acquiring or transmitting viral infections such as HIV, HCV, and others. The review of published research shows that cannabis use may impair immune function in many instances and thereby exerts an impact on viral infections including human immune deficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis C infection (HCV), and human T-cell lymphotropic type I and II virus (HTLV-I/II). The need for more research is also highlighted in the areas of long-term effects of cannabis use on pulmonary/respiratory diseases, immune dysfunction and the risk of infection transmission, and the molecular/genetic basis of immune dysfunction in chronic cannabis users.
Highlights
Today, marijuana is the most frequently used drug in the world, with over 188 million users, or ~2.5% of the population that is 15–64 years of age [1]
In addition to problematic cannabis use, an estimated 38 million people are living with human immune deficiency virus infection (HIV [5]), 170 million people with hepatitis C virus (HCV [6]) infection, 10–20 million people with human T-lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1 [7]), and an estimated 161 million people have been infected with coronoavirus, SARS-Cov2 [8], in the world
This review presents current research on the impact of cannabis use on the immune system which, in turn, may lead to increased risk of acquisition and transmission of viral infections including HIV, HCV, HTLV-I/II
Summary
Marijuana (cannabis) is the most frequently used drug in the world, with over 188 million users, or ~2.5% of the population that is 15–64 years of age [1]. The percentage of people aged 12 or above who were past year marijuana users increased from 11.0 percent (or 25.8 million people) in 2002 to 17.5 percent (or 48.2 million people) in 2019 [2]. 2 to 3 million new users of marijuana are added each year with about 1.1% becoming clinically dependent on it [3]. The psychosocial consequences of marijuana use—such as dropping out of school, poor school performance, and antisocial and other behaviors among youth—have been the subjects of many reviews/publications. This review presents current research on the impact of cannabis use on the immune system which, in turn, may lead to increased
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