Smoking Weed When You're Sick: Does It Help a Cold or the Flu?

Smoking weed when you have a cold or the flu can ease aches, help you sleep and bring your appetite back, but the smoke also irritates your throat and lungs right when they're already inflamed. If your symptoms are respiratory, a vaporizer, tincture or edible is the gentler bet. And during cold and flu season, when it feels like there's no escaping a sore throat and the couch blanket, plenty of people wonder whether cannabis can take the edge off. So what actually happens if you smoke weed when you're sick?

If you have respiratory symptoms, remember that smoking anything, cannabis included, irritates your lungs. When you light up, the cannabinoids, terpenes and other compounds in the plant burn and give off smoke that carries those molecules into your lungs and bloodstream. Along with that smoke come combustion byproducts that can be harmful to your lungs.

How does smoking weed affect your lungs?

Smoking damages the cells that protect your lungs against germs and dust, which leads to more mucus and a higher chance of bacterial infection. Extra mucus also makes it easier for bacteria to grow and hang around in your lungs. Lung problems like bronchitis and pneumonia can turn chronic if you keep smoking.

If you feel a cold or flu coming on, whether to smoke really comes down to personal preference. Some doctors say smoking with the flu won't make you feel worse, though there are no conclusive studies. It can be uncomfortable if your throat is already irritated, but it may also ease the muscle aches and inflammation that come with the flu or a fever. Some studies point to cannabinoids having pain-relieving and anti-inflammatory effects, which could help with fever aches. The smoke, though, irritates your throat: if it's already sore, a vaporizer or an edible is the better call. Weed can also boost your appetite and help you sleep when rest is hard to come by.

Whether smoking hurts or helps when you're sick depends on the person, but there's definitely a higher risk of spreading your bug when you smoke with others, especially if you're passing around a joint, pipe or bong. If you have breathing problems, consider tinctures, oils or edibles instead of smoking.

What happens if you smoke weed with the flu?

Cannabis contains several active compounds, including THC, that bind to receptors in the endocannabinoid system. These receptors are found all over the body, including the digestive tract and the esophageal sphincter, the band of muscle that lets food pass from the esophagus into the stomach. Long-term cannabis exposure can change how these receptors respond and trigger a condition called cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome (CHS).

Cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome causes repeated, severe bouts of vomiting and only shows up in long-term daily cannabis users. The condition is rare, but it can cause abdominal pain, ongoing nausea, eating less and signs of dehydration.

Many people take long hot showers or head to the doctor when these symptoms hit, and the truth is the symptoms only stop when the person quits cannabis completely. Recovery can take days or months, and symptoms often come back if the person starts smoking weed again.

The takeaway: cannabis can ease or worsen the symptoms of being sick, depending on how you consume it and how your body responds. Your best move is to check with a doctor if you're thinking about using cannabis while you're sick. And always give your friends and family a heads-up if you're planning to join a group sesh while you're under the weather or fighting the flu. Germs spread easily when you share glasses, joints and blunts.

What conditions is cannabis used for?

Cannabinoids act on the body in many different ways. The main effects researchers have studied include anti-inflammatory, pain-relieving, neuroprotective, anticonvulsant and muscle-relaxing effects, along with effects on bone formation and growth. Cannabis is also being looked at as an anti-nausea agent, an intestinal antispasmodic, an appetite stimulant or suppressant, and for anxiety, psychosis, sleep, immune modulation, antioxidant activity, and preventing relapse and withdrawal in substance dependence. 

Based on those effects, cannabis, which comes as therapeutic oil with cannabis extract, topical creams and massage oils, is being studied across a wide range of conditions. Among neurological conditions, the strongest evidence is for certain types of epilepsy; for Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, multiple sclerosis, Huntington's disease, ALS, Tourette syndrome and autism, it's still under investigation.

Cannabis oil: what are the benefits?

CBD has a lot of therapeutic potential. Researchers are studying its effects on stress, depression and some mental health conditions. Research suggests it may be neuroprotective and muscle-relaxing, which is why health professionals sometimes recommend it (always under their supervision) as palliative care for body pain and other discomfort.

CBD is used or being studied for conditions such as:

• Seizures
• Inflammation
• Pain
• Psychosis and other mental health conditions
• Inflammatory bowel disease
• Nausea
• Migraine
• Depression
• Anxiety

CBD can be taken by mouth or applied to the skin, depending on the product. There are tons of options, from oils and softgels that supposedly ease anxiety to relaxing bath salts, creams and oils, among others. You can smoke it too, of course, but if you're using CBD for therapeutic or medical reasons, it's best to skip combustion and go for healthier formats. 

Several studies have shown that CBD has a strong anticonvulsant effect in certain types of epilepsy, and its use has grown a lot because it doesn't get you high.

Thanks to advances in breeding, you can grow varieties that contain mostly CBD, without having to consume THC, the cannabinoid that does get you high.

CBD can raise the levels of blood thinners and other medications in your blood by competing for the liver enzymes that break those drugs down. “People taking high doses of CBD may show abnormalities in liver-related blood tests,” according to Harvard Health Publishing. Many over-the-counter drugs, like acetaminophen (Tylenol), have the same effect.

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