It’s time to throw out the lazy stoner myth. Yet another study has found that cannabis promotes more physical activity—not less! Published in the Journal of Cannabis Research, this recent study found that cannabis, particularly legal cannabis, is linked to greater levels of physical activity. 

The study found legal medical cannabis is associated with increased activity for those experiencing chronic medical conditions. Meanwhile, legal recreational cannabis is associated with even greater increases in physical activity for those without these conditions. 

Will cannabis make you lazy or active? 

On the other hand, a number of studies have found that cannabis use is associated with more physical activity in adults, including exercise and light activity like walking.

Being sedentary is tied to a lot of health issues, such as cancer, obesity, and diabetes. But in the US, most adults don’t meet the suggested levels of exercise to stay healthy. So, it’s important to know if a substance like cannabis will cause disruptions to your physical activity levels. Many studies have investigated this, but the results have been mixed.

Some evidence has suggested cannabis use can lead to increases in sedentary behavior for teenagers. One 2017 study also found a tie between less physical activity and cannabis use in adults. 

On the other hand, a number of studies have found that cannabis use is associated with more physical activity in adults, including exercise and light activity like walking. One study also found that teens aged 15-18 who exercised more had higher levels of cannabis use. 

Study limitations could explain inconsistent findings

These inconsistent findings could be due to the fact that studies defined physical activity in a variety of ways, with different studies including different types of activity. But they could also be due to limitations in the studies showing less physical activity. 

These studies didn’t control for factors like chronic conditions, which could explain both early cannabis use and sedentary lifestyles. While pain can both reduce physical activity and motivate cannabis use, these associations could be misunderstood as cannabis causing the reductions in activity. 

Does legality or health status change cannabis’ impact? 

The authors of this new study were motivated to find out whether the association between cannabis and physical activity would remain if they controlled for certain factors, like chronic medical conditions and whether cannabis is legal. 

They hypothesized that greater physical activity would be associated with current cannabis use. They also thought there would be more physical activity in states with legal cannabis, and that cannabis use would help those with chronic conditions stay more active. 

To study this, they analyzed the 2016-2022 data from a cross-sectional study conducted each year on 400,000 adults in the US. The questionnaire included questions to assess physical activity, cannabis use frequency, medical conditions, demographic characteristics, and whether cannabis is legal for medical and/or recreational use in their area. With this, they were able to look for any statistically significant associations between cannabis use, physical activity, and the other factors involved.   

Legal cannabis consumers are more active

The results of the analysis supported all three of the researchers’ hypotheses. 

There were significant associations between cannabis use and increased physical activity. Cannabis use has almost doubled between 2016 and 2022, going from 7.48% to 14.71%. Physical activity levels also went up by 3.5% during that time. Throughout the time studied, the association remained strong between cannabis use and more physical activity. 

There were significant associations between cannabis use and increased physical activity.

More physical activity was also associated with areas that had legal recreational or medical cannabis. Cannabis use was also 6.5% higher in areas with legal recreational cannabis, and 0.7% higher in areas with legal medical cannabis (compared to areas where it is illegal). 

Importantly, the association between physical activity and cannabis use frequently depended on the legal status of cannabis—with the association dropping away for illegal cannabis use. Only using legal cannabis was associated with more physical activity, with the highest levels associated with legal recreational cannabis. 

The authors argue that “it may be that the greater flexibility in how a person can use cannabis because of legalization for recreation can explain this result.” Those free to use cannabis however they see fit may be more likely to use it to encourage exercise.

Legal medical cannabis boosts activity in chronic illness

The results also supported the third hypothesis, that cannabis use would mediate how much someone could exercise if they had a chronic illness. Each year, those with a chronic condition had consistently lower levels of physical activity than those without. But for cannabis consumers, this association did not remain significant, suggesting that cannabis use allows those with chronic conditions to stay more active. 

While this study adds to the growing body of evidence that cannabis is beneficial for physical activity, it is limited. The survey only asked about specific conditions, and did not ask if they were controlled or consistent, which may have shifted results. Since it was a survey, physical activity and cannabis use were self-reported and not measured physically.

Although many variables were controlled for, it was underpowered to be able to show causal relationships between cannabis and physical activity. 

Still, the results suggest that cannabis may allow for more physical activity, something that benefits those with and without chronic health conditions. 

By now we should all know that exercising high is tight.

The data is in: weed smokers have a lower BMI, and they get more active. Lazy stoner tropes are pretty much fading away.

But that leaves the question: What’s the best exercise to do high? The Leafly Nation decides once and for all with a monthly poll for Dry January and that New Year-New You mood.

Make your choice or write in your own, and we’ll announce the winner at the end of the month.

Some points on high exercises

• Walking: Simple, reliable, and doesn’t require special gear (unless you count your favorite hoodie).
• Hiking: Basically walking with scenery. Bonus points if you bring snacks and a solid playlist.
• Running: Running high? Bold choice. Some distance runners swear by ganja.
• Yoga: It’s slow, meditative, and forgiving if you get distracted halfway through.
• Pilates: For those who want core strength and vibes.
• Dance: Jellyfish or twerk—just get your cardio and prep for the next party.
• Cycling: Stationary or otherwise—it can feel like you’re flying.
• Swimming: Let’s be honest, the floating at the end is the best part.
• Weights: Weed can kill the boredom of reps, reps, reps—enhancing performance.
• Rock climbing: Scout a novel way to handle a route, or work on your patience.
• Basketball: Some stoners swear by their high three-pointers.
• Soccer: Weed can help you see where the ball is going, as opposed to focusing on where it is.

Your move: vote for your winner, then go rack up some health wins of your own.

As modern-day cannabis research persists, studies have increasingly shed light on prevailing stereotypes of cannabis users, those persistent attitudes that cannabis makes people lazy and unmotivated. 

Given the increased accessibility of cannabis in the United States and beyond, it’s now clear that there is no fixed demographic when it comes to cannabis use. The research shows it, too, regularly concluding that cannabis may actually fit in nicely with those pursuing a more active lifestyle.

One of the most recent studies to examine this relationship was published last week in the journal Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research, measuring the physical activity and sedentary behavior among young-to-midlife adults and confirming that cannabis use is actually associated with a marginal increase in daily light physical activity (LPA).

‘The Largest Cohort’ to Study Cannabis Use, Physical Activity

Researchers used data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) from 2011 to 2014 to investigate the relationship between cannabis and physical activity. 

The study included U.S. adults aged 18 to 59 who responded to the questionnaire and had at least four days of activity data using wrist-worn accelerometers to track physical activity.

The findings drew data from 4,666 adults, 658 (14.1%) of which reported cannabis use within the past 30 days. Researchers said that it is “the largest cohort in which the relationship between cannabis use and physical activity has been studied.”

The accelerometer data found few differences in sleep or physical activity between people who did and did not use cannabis over the past month. While there were also no differences found between groups in daily moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) time, daily time spent doing LPA was higher among recent cannabis users.

However, the difference is minimal, as those who used cannabis in the past month had 102 minutes of light physical activity per day versus 99 minutes for those without past-month cannabis use.

New Findings and Outstanding Questions

“With the rising prevalence of cannabis use, there have been concerns of its potential effects on physical activity levels,” the study concludes. “In this population level-analysis, recent cannabis use was not independently associated with daily sedentary time or MVPA, and it was associated with a marginally greater daily LPA time of unclear clinical significance.”

Researchers noted that more than half of the participants were 18-29 years old, “which may suggest selection bias toward younger and healthier people in the NHANES sample” and may not be a representative sample of the general adult population. 

The study also did not explore motivations surrounding cannabis use, though researchers noted the reasons could include exercise, pain, anxiety or sleep. The study also did not include data surrounding frequency of consumption or specific products used.

Authors said that further reason could be useful to examine whether the findings were generalizable to specific subgroups who use cannabis for chronic or neuropathic pain.

“Our findings provide evidence against existing concerns that cannabis use independently promotes sedentary behavior and decreases physical activity,” authors concluded, highlighting that the longstanding “lazy stoner” archetype often portrayed with chronic cannabis users “does not acknowledge the diverse uses of cannabis today.”

Ongoing Research Puts Tired Stoner Stereotypes to Bed

It’s one of several recent students examining cannabis use and physical activity, similarly showing that these tired attitudes surrounding cannabis consumers may need to be examined in a new way in regard to today’s modern cannabis community and broad user base.

A study published last month found that regular cannabis consumption was associated with more positive emotions and fewer negative emotions, alongside minimal effects of motivation or objective effort willingness.

“When frequent cannabis users get high, in other words, they are no more apathetic, nor less extrinsically or intrinsically motivated to pursue their goals,” researchers said. “They are, however, slightly less motivated to do things when they are high because they would be upset with themselves if they did not do them.”

Other research has honed in on cannabis use and physical activity specifically. 

Another study from earlier this year showed that cannabis users take more walks on average compared to non-users and e-cigarette users and that they are no less likely to engage in basic exercise and strength training compared to non-users. 

A similar study looking specifically at Americans 60 and older found that this demographic of cannabis consumers exercise more than their non-cannabis-consuming counterparts, while another study found that cannabis is increasingly being used in conjunction with exercise and may increase positive mood and enjoyment during workouts.