Munchies confirmed: Study says marijuana use does lead to junk food consumption
Using recreational marijuana leads to consumption of junk food, says a new study that validates a long-held stereotype.
In a study that came out in the December 2020 issue of the journal “Economics & Human Biology,” it was revealed that legalizing marijuana causes junk food sales to rise by about 6.3% in terms of sales and 5.1% by volume.
Georgia State University economist Alberto Chong, who is a co-author of the study, told The Academic Times that the findings dispel the notion that marijuana does no harm.
“But there are unintended consequences, and one of them is the fact that you really get very hungry and you start eating crap,” Chong said.
Researchers said their study should be given weight in public policy at a time when nearly half of American adults are obese and amid efforts to legalize the drug in different jurisdictions.
Researchers for the study used 2006-2016 data on select counties in the United States that includes retail data for convenience store, drugstore, and grocery store sales of junk food items.