Medical Implications of Marijuana Use

The effect of marijuana smoking was studied in 28 healthy young adult men who had previously smoked marijuana for approximately 5 years each. The subjects were hospitalized on a closed research ward for 31 days during which comprehensive psychological, physiological, and medical observations and tests were done. Physical examinations, neurological examinations, chest X-rays, electrocardiograms, and clinical laboratory tests were all within normal limits. Marijuana produced inconstant changes in pulse rate and blood pressure in these studies. Six subjects were found to have significant reduction in resting vital capacity during the baseline period of the study which were felt to be related to their prior marijuana smoking. In contradistinction to these findings, 12 of 15 subjects had statistically significant increases in peak expiratory flow rate immediately following marijuana smoking. Body temperature tended to be slightly reduced during marijuana use.