Marijuana has found a place in our society in large part as a natural tool that can help people with a wide range of medical problems. While children with severe seizures and cancer patients are often attached to medical marijuana stories, not all of marijuana’s medical benefits apply to only serious problems. In fact, for thousands of years, people have believed there is a healing link between marijuana and constipation, including the Chinese in 2700 BCE.

Cannabis has been used as a treatment for many digestive related illnesses such as Crohn’s Disease and the side effects of Chemotherapy, and while the science on cannabis’ laxative effects is limited, studies seem to indicate that cannabis use, THC to be more specific, may help combat the symptoms of inflammatory bowel disease and help reduce diarrhea.

Marijuana and Constipation

There is evidence that shows CBD, among other cannabinoids, does affect gastric motility – which determines how quickly or slowly matter passes through the intestines. How cannabis affects you is dictated in large part by which cannabinoids you’re consuming. Given the fact that there are over 70 known cannabinoids until cannabis is legalized and we can research each cannabinoid more in-depth, any answer that you receive regarding cannabis and constipation is going to come with an asterisk.

Medical marijuana can often be a huge help in many problems that arise from the standard opiate protocol that many doctors prescribe (like constipation.) Not only do patients feel like they have more control, but they also are less likely to become addicted to opiates and subsequently not have to face harsher side effects from opiates.

The science on everything marijuana-related is limited, but according to this self-reported data, long term cannabis users often experience constipation as one of the symptoms that can develop with cannabis use. This study does have its flaws though. In general, there is nothing wrong with self-reported data. However, it mentions that many of the individuals who reported constipation with marijuana also have irritable bowel syndrome. Since constipation can be a side effect of IBS, these results should be taken with a grain of salt.

Claims That Cannabis Help With Constipation Are Not Based In Science

However, the one thing noticeably missing from the entire article is the actual research that supports that claim.  They aren’t the only culprits, either. If you search “marijuana constipation” on Google, the entire first page of search results is full of “experts” coming to baseless conclusions about the benefits of cannabis when it comes to constipation. This is a prime example of misinformation poisoning the cannabis dialogue and setting back any efforts to legitimize the plant and the industry. The real answer is there isn’t enough research right now to definitively make the claim that cannabis helps OR hurts your constipation.

Marijuana use has long been considered a tool to help constipation, but much of that evidence is largely anecdotal without any actual scientific evidence. While that may be the norm for answering any health-based questions related to cannabis, it can cause real-world problems for people who then have to blindly test if the claims are solid.

What To Do If You’re Constipated

A problem that people can run into is the fact that constipation can’t actually be cured by marijuana, meaning that if you really want to fix the problem you may have to try some stool softeners or make some lifestyle changes.

Any serious constipation problems that you have may be from underlying health issues instead of THC, but the relationship between our bowel movements and our smoking habits is real and something that you should monitor. If you run into any small problems with your bowels and suspect that it may have something to do with your cannabis consumption, some of the quick fixes that you could try out include switching the strains, looking at your diet, or taking a break from weed. If you have constipation, but no alarming symptoms, try journaling everything you ingest (food and cannabis) for a week or two to see if you can figure something out yourself.

If you have serious concerns, you’ll definitely want to consult your doctor, especially if you exhibit any of these symptoms:

• Severe abdominal pain
• Vomiting
• Fevers
• Inability To Pass Gas
• Severe Rectal Pain

CBD and Diarrhea

Diarrhea comes from a number of different reasons and illnesses that our body can cook up, with the bathroom nuisance often being a side-effect of another problem. However, diarrhea is often the cause of dehydration.

CBD related problems often occur from the act of overdoing it, as smaller doses and non-daily use will not likely cause many health issues for you. However, as with THC and constipation, the relationship between CBD and its side-effects are understudied, to say the least.

There are potentially other reasons you are suffering from diarrhea, including:

• Infections
• Food allergies and intolerances
• Digestive tract problems
• Certain medicines, like antibiotics

If you are dealing with some nasty side-effects and think CBD is to blame, try changing your dose, the strain or the method you use to take it. Going from oil to topical treatment may be all you need to stop unwanted effects, plus it is never a bad thing to try new things.

You should consult your doctor about your diarrhea if you have any of the following symptoms:

• Diarrhea for more than 2 days
• Fever
• Vomiting
• 6 or more loose stools in 24 hours
• Severe pain in the abdomen or rectum
• Diarrhea that is bloody or resembles coffee grounds

 Where Do We Go From Here?

There is a common theme when it comes to answering questions about how cannabis interacts with the body: more research is needed. Until cannabis is federally legal and the appropriate studies can take place, we won’t know definitively all the ways in which cannabis affects your body and why.