Cannabis use disorder may triple oral cancer risk

A study found cannabis use disorder is linked to a more than threefold increase in oral cancer risk over five years, highlighting the need to assess the long-term cancer risks of problematic cannabis use.

Researchers analyzed clinical records from the University of California Health Data Warehouse, covering six academic medical centers. Adults screened for drug use disorders between January 2012 and December 2019 were included if they had no prior oral cancer diagnoses and were then followed for five years.

Among 45,129 eligible patients, 949 developed cannabis use disorder. Oral cancer incidence was 0.74% among those with cannabis use disorder and 0.23% in patients without the disorder.

Read more: Preventive Medicine Reports

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