The "munchies" aside, pot smokers are actually less likely than non-tokers to be obese, according to a study by a French researcher.
The examination of data from two separate studies of more than 50,000 U.S. adults found that 14% to 17% of people who smoked pot at least three days per week were obese, compared with 22% to 25% among non-cannibis users.
The research team headed by Yann Le Strat, a psychiatrist at the Louis-Mourier Hospital in Colombes, France, appears in the Sept. 15 issue of the American Journal of Epidemiology.
"Initially, we thought we made a mistake," says Le Strat, according to Reuters. He says he and co-author Bernard Le Foll checked the results several times to make sure they were correct.
"This is only a preliminary result," he says. "It doesn't mean that marijuana does actually help you lose weight, but perhaps there is a component that does."
The researchers did not examine whether diet and exercise habits were different between the two groups but did find that cigarette usage had no influence on the obesity findings, Reuters reports.
Doug is an unrepentant news junkie who loves breaking news and has been known to watch C-SPAN even on vacation. He has covered a wide range of domestic and international news stories, from prison riots in Oklahoma to the Moscow coup against Mikhail Gorbachev. Doug previously served as foreign editor at USA TODAY. More about Doug
Michael Winter has been a daily contributor to On Deadline since its debut in January 2006. His journalism career began in the prehistoric Ink Era, and he was an early adapter at the dawn of the Digital Age. His varied experience includes editing at the San Jose Mercury News and The Philadelphia Inquirer.