Marijuana use was associated with a lower risk of developing several metabolic conditions, including type 2 diabetes and hypertension, in a large study involving more than 91,000 adults.
The research, published in the September 2026 issue of the journal Nutrition, Metabolism and Cardiovascular Diseases, analyzed data from 91,002 participants in the UK Biobank. Researchers from Zhejiang University and Taizhou First People’s Hospital examined whether marijuana use was associated with the subsequent development of hypertension, type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, obesity and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.
All participants included in the analysis were free of the metabolic conditions being studied at baseline. Among them, 23,181 reported having used marijuana, while 67,821 reported never using it. Researchers used multivariable statistical models to account for a range of factors that could influence metabolic health.
After adjustment, people who had used marijuana had a 6% lower risk of developing a metabolic disease overall, a 7% lower risk of hypertension and an 18% lower risk of type 2 diabetes compared with those who had never used marijuana.
The association with obesity was particularly pronounced among participants classified as heavy marijuana users. That group had a 43% lower adjusted risk of developing obesity compared with nonusers.
The results varied substantially depending on participants’ body mass index (BMI). The inverse associations were strongest among people with a BMI below 25, which is generally considered the normal-weight range, and became weaker among those with higher BMIs.
Among participants with a BMI above 30, which falls within the obesity range, the pattern changed. Those in the study’s moderate marijuana-use category had a 26% higher adjusted risk of developing a metabolic disease overall and a 40% higher risk of hypertension.
Researchers found no statistically significant association between marijuana use and either hyperlipidemia, commonly known as high cholesterol, or non-alcoholic fatty liver disease after adjustment.
The authors said previous research into marijuana and metabolic health has produced mixed results, with some studies suggesting increased risks and others finding lower rates of certain metabolic conditions among consumers. They said large population-based studies examining multiple metabolic outcomes simultaneously have remained relatively limited.
Researchers cautioned that the findings do not establish that marijuana use causes a reduction in metabolic disease risk. Marijuana use was self-reported, and because the research was observational, other differences between users and nonusers could have contributed to the results.
“In this cohort study, cannabis use was associated with modestly lower observed risks” of several metabolic conditions, the researchers concluded, adding that the associations were most evident among participants with a BMI below 25. They said causal conclusions cannot be drawn and that residual confounding may help explain some of the observed relationships.
