Cannabis in the age of COVID-19

Should you stop smoking and try different methods for taking cannabis because of the coronavirus pandemic? Does cannabis affect your immune system? Can marijuana help relieve the stress and anxiety of isolation caused by COVID-19 public health measures?

“We haven’t found evidence either way,” Dr. Roni Sharon says on The Cannabis Enigma Podcast about whether cannabis can boost the immune system.

“If [cannabis] is relieving your stress or anxiety or treating chronic pain and that makes you stronger,” Dr. Sharon adds, “that’s a big immune system booster. We know that stress reduces your immune system and we know that, of course, sleep reduces your immune system.”

COVID-19 is still very new and there’s a lot we don’t know about it, particularly how smoking can affect the virus’s damage to your lungs. So while there’s no immediate reason to stop smoking medical cannabis, particularly if you’re not suffering from a lung illness, it’s also not a bad time to try different delivery methods like oil tinctures, Dr. Sharon says. 

And what about relieving COVID-19 related stress and anxiety, be it from worrying about the future or just being isolated at home? 

“Human isolation is human isolation, and if marijuana can help you relieve that stress, relieve that anxiety, and it’s legal to do so in the state or in the country you’re in, I highly encourage it,” Dr. Sharon says.

Just make sure not to share joints or vaporizers, be careful about handling cannabis packaging that others have touched, and “just like everything else, it should be done responsibly.”

Edited and mixed by Michael Schaeffer Omer-Man. Produced by Michael Schaeffer Omer-Man and Elana Goldberg. Music by Desca.