WEDNESDAY, Aug. 14, 2024 (HealthDay News) — Among U.S. adults with diabetes, cannabis use in the past month increased by 33.7 percent from 2021 to 2022, according to a research letter published online July 22 in Diabetes Care.

Benjamin H. Han, M.D., M.P.H., from the University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine in La Jolla, and colleagues estimated the most recent national prevalence of cannabis use among adults with diabetes using aggregated data from the 2021 to 2022 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. The sample was limited to 6,816 adults who reported a lifetime diagnosis of diabetes.

The researchers found that 9.0 percent of adults in the United States with diabetes were estimated to have used cannabis in the past month. There was a 33.7 percent increase in prevalence from 7.7 percent in 2021 to 10.3 percent in 2022. About half of those with diabetes who used cannabis were younger than 50 years of age (48.9 percent); 20.4 percent of those younger than 50 years did not use cannabis. Higher odds of past-month cannabis use were seen in association with residing in states where cannabis is legal, a history of hepatitis, a past-year major depressive episode, and past-year emergency department use (adjusted odds ratios, 2.76, 3.87, 1.58, and 1.46, respectively). Higher odds were also seen among those with past-month tobacco use, binge drinking, opioid misuse, and stimulant misuse (adjusted odds ratios, 2.90, 2.21, 6.37, and 4.14, respectively).

“Clinicians must discuss with their patients with diabetes the potential harms of cannabis use on diabetes-related outcomes without a clear understanding of its benefits,” the authors write.

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