A new study has showed that hospitalisation for cannabis use disorder (CUD) is associated with a nearly threefold higher risk for premature death compared with the general population, with risk particularly high for death by trauma, suicide, and opioid poisoning.

Results of the study published online in the ‘JAMA Network Open’, were led by Daniel T. My – ran, MD, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

Opioid is a class of drug used to reduce moderate to severe pain. Examples of opioids include morphine, heroin, codeine, oxycodone, hydrocodone and fentanyl.

The population-based retrospective cohort study included 11.6 million individuals aged 15- 105 years from Ontario, Canada, held between 2006 and 2021.

The researchers compared overall and causespecific mortality between nearly 107,000 individuals receiving incident hospital-based care for CUD and nearly 421,000 age- and sex-matched members of the general population or individuals receiving hospital-based care for other substance use disorders.

The analysis was ad – justed for comorbid mental health, substance use, and chronic health conditions. The median follow-up duration was five years.

According to the findings, individuals who received incident hospitalbased care for CUD were nearly three times more likely to die within five years of care than those in the general population.