A study published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry has found that cannabis use is linked to changes in the human epigenome, the chemical modifications that regulate gene expression.
The researchers say that their findings suggest that cannabis use may have long-term effects on gene expression and could potentially contribute to the development of health problems.
Epigenetics is a complex field of study, and it is still not fully understood how cannabis use might affect the epigenome.
The study's lead author, Dr. Lifang Hou, said that "Our findings raise the possibility that cannabis use could have long-term epigenetic effects that could contribute to the development of health problems.
The researchers also found that the cannabis-related methylation changes were associated with changes in gene expression.
More research is needed to determine whether the epigenetic changes associated with cannabis use have any long-term health consequences.