Despite the internet’s armchair doctors, cannabis usage causes epigenetic changes in it’s users – and in some of the same ways as cigarette smoking.

• Cannabis damages DNA, increasing cancer risk and accelerating aging.
• Genotoxic effects of cannabis can be inherited by future generations.
• Mitochondrial dysfunction links cannabis use to chromosomal damage.

Five significant cigarette smoking-independent CpGs were significantly associated with cannabis use. These CpG sites have also been implicated in cigarette smokers; therefore, both cannabis use and cigarette smoking may independently influence DNA methylation at these CpGs.

Links:

• https://www.news-medical.net/news/20231108/Cannabis-use-alters-DNA-methylation-with-implications-beyond-smoking-effects.aspx
• https://neurosciencenews.com/epigenetics-cancer-genetics-28065/