Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)

[Undertoad]

If you're smoking weed to ease your stress during the coronavirus pandemic, experts say it's time to think twice.

Smoking marijuana, even occasionally, can increase your risk for more severe complications from Covid-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.

"What happens to your airways when you smoke cannabis is that it causes some degree of inflammation, very similar to bronchitis, very similar to the type of inflammation that cigarette smoking can cause," said pulmonologist Dr. Albert Rizzo, chief medical officer for the American Lung Association. "Now you have some airway inflammation and you get an infection on top of it. So, yes, your chance of getting more complications is there." ...

~ guess what. oh you'll never ever guess! ~

Tobacco:

As of 2015, 15.1% of US adults were smokers.

In available data, 1.3% of people testing positive for COVID-19 were smokers.

WHAT?

5.2% of these were both hospitalized and admitted to an ICUs.
20% of ex-smokers testing positive were admitted to ICUs.

FUCK ME IF IT MIGHT TURN OUT SMOKING IS A COVID PREVENTATIVE.

Do you think they'll tell people that?

~ however, that is early data ~ but wait there's more! ~

Pre-print science: Level of IL-6 predicts respiratory failure in hospitalized symptomatic COVID-19 patients

Dang. So, what inhibits IL-6?

Self-reported lifetime marijuana use and interleukin-6 levels in middle-aged African Americans

The current findings extend previous cellular and biochemical literature, which identifies an inverse association between IL-6 and marijuana use. Examining this relationship in the psychological and behavioral literature could be informative to the development of clinical interventions for inflammatory diseases.

Now, I'm not saying. I'm really not. This is on the order of conspiracy theory. It's just a notion. Still, if it turns out weed is a preventative...

...do you think they'll tell people that?