An increasing number of states have legalized use of marijuana for medicinal purposes, and a few have even started to allow recreational use of cannabis. Many people claim that marijuana can help to ease the symptoms of a variety of diseases: cancer and side effects of chemotherapy; glaucoma; multiple sclerosis; Crohn’s disease; mental health conditions; and pain caused by disease or injury, to name a few. While there seems to be ample evidence of cannabis helping some patients overcome pain or other uncomfortable symptoms or side effects of medication, there is still much debate over whether marijuana is a harmless recreational herb or a danger to society. No matter what your opinion may be about cannabis, one fact has been proven: people who smoke marijuana on a regular basis are more prone to developing gum disease.
In a study conducted recently and published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, researchers discovered that young people who smoke a lot of marijuana run a much higher risk of forming gum disease than those who don’t. This research is the first long-term study of how cannabis affects gum health. Conducted in New Zealand, the study tracked young adults who were born between 1972 and 1973, and who regularly smoked cannabis and tobacco. The results were alarming: researchers found a “strong association between cannabis use and periodontitis experience by age 32.” That means that those people who smoked marijuana on a regular basis ran a much higher risk – were three times more likely, in fact – of developing gum disease than those who did not smoke cannabis.
Developing gum disease in your early 30s can have devastating effects. Left untreated, gum disease can result in tooth loss. But there are other consequences as well. Periodontal disease has been linked to much more serious health conditions, such as heart disease, diabetes, and even Alzheimer’s disease.
It should be noted that smoking is not the only means by which medical marijuana users can reap the benefits of the herb. CBD is the cannabinoid found in marijuana and hemp plants that is thought to have medicinal benefits and does not produce any kind of a psychoactive effect – in other words, it does not get the user “high.” Medical marijuana users can find plenty of other ways to get CBD into their systems aside from smoking. In states where medical marijuana is legal, CBD is often available in the form of edibles, tinctures and even oil that can be used to soothe aching joints.
Whether you believe in the effects of medical marijuana, or whether you agree or disagree with its recreational use, one thing is certain: if you smoke it, you increase your chances of developing gum disease.
