How You Use Weed Affects Sedation During Medical Procedures, Study Says

MONDAY, Oct. 19, 2026 (HealthDay News) — How you use weed might make a difference in how much sedation you require for surgeries or procedures, a new study says

People who smoke or vape weed — but not those who use edibles — might need more anesthesia, researchers say.

Weed smokers required substantially higher levels of the general anesthetic propofol than non-users during colonoscopy or upper endoscopy, researchers reported at the annual meeting of the American Society of Anesthesiologists.

However, people who consumed weed edibles wound up requiring less anesthesia, researchers found.

These results suggest that not all weed is equal when it comes to sedation, researchers concluded.

“For physicians, simply asking, ‘Do you use cannabis?’ may no longer be sufficient,” said lead researcher Dr. Basavana Goudra, an anesthesiologist at Sidney Kimmel Medical College in Philadelphia.

“The most important message for patients is to be honest with their anesthesiologist about cannabis, including how they use it — smoking, vaping or edible products — how often they use it and when they last used it,” Goudra said in a news release.

For the new study, researchers reviewed records for 264 people who’d undergone either a colonoscopy or upper endoscopy and reported their cannabis use. They included 217 non-users, 38 who vaped or smoked weed, and nine who ate weed gummies or other edibles.

Overall, those who smoked or vaped weed needed an average propofol dose of 169 milligrams, compared to 139 milligrams among non-users and 114 milligrams among those who used weed edibles, results show.

The biggest difference was among people undergoing upper endoscopy, a procedure in which a thin tube is inserted through the mouth to examine the throat and upper airway.

Weed smokers required 193 milligrams of propofol for proper sedation during upper endoscopy, compared to 151 milligrams for non-users and 145 milligrams for edibles users, researchers said.

Researchers said these differences could be due to the different ways weed is processed by the body, based on the route of consumption.

Smoking or vaping delivers THC — the chemical in weed that causes intoxication — rapidly through the lungs, researchers said. On the other hand, the THC in weed edibles is processed by the liver, which produces a slower but sometimes longer high.

Smoking or vaping also might irritate the upper airway, potentially requiring deeper anesthesia to help patients tolerate the insertion of the tube during an upper endoscopy, researchers said.

However, these results don’t mean that people who smoke weed should delay or avoid upper endoscopy, researchers said. They simply need to provide complete, accurate information before the procedure so anesthesiologists can adjust to their specific needs.

Researchers presented the study Sunday at the ASA meeting in San Diego, California.

Results presented at medical meetings should be considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.

More information

The American Association of Nurse Anesthesiology has more on cannabis and sedation.

SOURCE: American Society of Anesthesiologists, news release, Oct. 18, 2026