New Studies Find Cannabis Use Associated with More Exercise

Two recent studies suggest that cannabis use is associated with greater levels of exercise adding to a growing body of literature that pokes holes in the “lazy stoner” stereotype.

A study published last month in the journal of Public Health included 15,822 U.S. adults and concluded that “those who had ever used cannabis had higher odds of being physically activity compared with those who had not.” The researchers noted, though, that among males, cannabis use was also associated with watching television for two or more hours per day.

A separate study published this month in the Substance Use and Misuse journal included 387 adolescent participants, aged 15-18-years-old, who self-reported cannabis use and exercise. The subjects who reported higher levels of exercise at baseline were more likely to say they would use cannabis in the future.

“Contrary to hypotheses, adolescents reporting more exercise at baseline also reported higher [cannabis use] frequency in our sample. This association may be explained by factors like sample characteristics or sports types, but more research is needed to explore this. Results did not support a mediating role for decision-making in the associations between exercise and [cannabis use] outcomes.” – “Exercise, Decision-Making, and Cannabis-Related Outcomes among Adolescents,” Apr. 8, 2021, Substance Use and Misuse

A study published last month in the journal Preventative Medicine found cannabis users “equal to or more likely to exercise than non-users” and acknowledged that the stereotype portraying cannabis users as “largely sedentary” was “not supported by these data on young and middle-aged adults.”

A study published in 2019 in the journal Frontiers Public Health found 81.7% of respondents said cannabis “enhances their enjoyment of and recovery from exercise” while about half said cannabis use motivated them to exercise.