“Ma’am, what primary factor would you attribute your astonishing longevity to?”

A new study published in the American Journal of Medicine finds that heavy pot smokers tend to be slimmer than former marijuana users and non-smokers.

In the abstract, the researchers went into the background of the study:

There are limited data regarding the relationship between cannabinoids and metabolic processes. Epidemiologic studies have found lower prevalence rates of obesity and diabetes mellitus in marijuana users compared with people who have never used marijuana, suggesting a relationship between cannabinoids and peripheral metabolic processes. To date, no study has investigated the relationship between marijuana use and fasting insulin, glucose, and insulin resistance.

They concluded:

We found that marijuana use was associated with lower levels of fasting insulin and HOMA-IR, and smaller waist circumference.

This would suggest that cannabinoids have a positive effect on metabolic processes.

I’m not a scientist, but the first thing that occurred to me is that this doesn’t seem to take into account the fact that bigtime potheads tend not to drink alcohol very much, if at all. I wonder how many of the non-smokers control group were in fact drinkers? I’d like to see a study pitting the physiques of big stoners versus moderate to heavy drinkers.