Are Edibles Bad For Your Liver?

When marijuana is ingested as opposed to inhaled, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is metabolized by the liver and converted into 11-hydroxy-tetrahydrocannibinol (11-OH-THC), as such many users have health concerns regarding potential harm to the biliary tract and long term liver function.

Edibles are utilized to aide in treatment to a wide variety of conditions from headaches to nausea, chronic pain, discomfort, anxiety, gastrointestinal issues and so forth. Cannabis infused edibles, as compared to other treatments for such ailments, have significantly less harmful long and short term effects and do not facilitate further damage to the liver than where pre-existing conditions are extant. Per a 2004 analysis study conducted in France regarding the further development of chronic liver disease, those who consumed daily amounts of both cannabis and 30 grams of alcohol exhibited a high progression rate of liver fibrosis. For those who moderately consumed only cannabis, however, no effect was found on the development of the disease – it neither increased nor decreased. In another comprehensive study involving 700 patients and 2,000 person years of follow up research (released 2013), the journal Clinical Infection Disease found as well that there was no evidence to support a correlation between marijuana usage and the progression of liver fibrosis, cirrhosis or other chronic liver diseases and conditions.

As compared to other methods of medical therapy prescribed or suggested for ailments commonly treated with cannabis, Tylenol as an example, edibles pose significantly less physical risk to the human body and more specifically the liver. According to Dr. Michael Rieder, a clinical pharmacologist at the University of Western Ontario, acetaminophen, the primary constituent in Tylenol, is the most common cause of liver damage and failure in Canada and is found in more than 400 over-the-counter products including cold and cough medications such as Nyquil and Sinutab.

When analysing the potential side effects of common pharmaceuticals vs. cannabis the differences are markedly evident and those that are cannabis induced, which are very few by comparison, typically only occur when the user has ingested more than their recommended dosage and pass rapidly with no long-term damage having been done.

Therefore, in summary, medicinal cannabis infused edibles present very little comparative and non-comparative risk to negative chronic liver function, disorder or disease and remain safe to consume for the purposes of treating pain, mental health disorders and disease states.