Study: Smoking Pot Might Help You Lose Weight

When I think of famous stoner films of the past few years, my mind jumps right to 2008’s Pineapple Express. Star Seth Rogen has reprised the stoner role several times—think Knocked Up Seth Rogen, not Horton Hears a Who Seth Rogen (although come to think of it, that movie was pretty trippy).

Yes, Rogen seems like the stereotypical stoner—fat, lazy … fat—but a new study seems to suggest that we might want to recast stoner stereotypes for someone like, oh, svelte-and-lean James Franco, for example. The findings, which link marijuana use to body weight, actually show pot smokers to be thinner than their cannabis-free counterparts.

A recent study conducted in France concluded that pot smokers are generally less obese than non-smokers. Dr. Yan Le Strat, co-author of the study, was the first to question these results and called for another survey to verify the findings. So researchers ran a second sample—and found identical results.

Averaging the data from the two surveys, the obesity rate of non-smokers was found to be 23.65 percent, whereas smokers had obesity rates of 15.75 percent.

Now wait a second. Let’s not be hasty.

The scientists involved readily admit that there could be outside factors contributing to the results, and Le Strat mentions that the different substances found in cannabis could explain the weight variance. Cigarette smoking could also have an impact, and exercise was not even considered a factor.

Plus, to be classified as a “smoker” in the study, subjects had to admit to lighting up just three times a week—that’s a far cry from Pineapple Express-level smokers who light up everyday. Does that mean that smoking sometimes is okay, or even beneficial to your health? I’m not convinced.

Smoking pot may help you keep off the pounds, but for me, dropping a dress size doesn’t outweigh the adverse effects of smoking weed, like decreased learning and memory function.

Of course, some people have sacrificed much more in search of the perfect bod.