Background: Vulnerability to COVID-19 hospitalization has been linked to behavioral risk factors, including combustible psychoactive substance use (e.g., tobacco smoking). Paralleling the COVID-19 pandemic crisis have been increasingly permissive laws for recreational cannabis use. Cannabis use disorder (CUD) is a psychiatric disorder that is heritable and genetically correlated with respiratory disease, independent of tobacco smoking. We examined the genetic relationship between CUD and COVID-19 hospitalization.
Conclusions: Problematic cannabis use and vulnerability to serious COVID-19 complications share genetic underpinnings that are unique from common correlates. While CUD may plausibly contribute to severe COVID-19 presentations, causal inference models yielded no evidence of putative causation. Curbing excessive cannabis use may mitigate the impact of COVID-19.