Chapel Hill, NC: Neither the past or current use of cannabis is negatively associated with health outcomes in patients receiving liver transplants, according to data published in the journal of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases.
Investigators at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill reviewed liver transplant patient outcomes over a period of ten years. Authors reported that patients’ use of tobacco was significantly associated with higher mortality rates, but that cannabis use was not.
They concluded, "Overall, pre‐transplant marijuana use, past or current, does not appear to impact liver transplant outcomes."
The finding is consistent with prior studies finding that a history of cannabis use is not contraindicated in patients receiving organ transplants. Nonetheless, it remains hospital policy in many states to automatically disqualify medical cannabis patients from being eligible to receive organ transplants.
For more information, contact Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director, at: paul@norml.org. Full text of the study, "Marijuana consumption in liver transplant recipients," appears in the journal of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases.