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Men and women who smoke marijuana may experience different effects, study suggests

MARIJUANA USERS MAY FACE HIDDEN DRIVING DANGER THAT STANDARD TESTS CAN MISS Among those who used cannabis occasionally, men reported feeling more high, sedated and impaired than women with similar use habits, according to the study.

✦ Extractive summary — built from the sources' own reporting•From 1 source•1 min read•Updated November 9, 2026, 4:55 PM UTC
Key points
  • CLICK HERE FOR MORE HEALTH STORIES Researchers said larger studies are needed to better understand whether men and women develop tolerance to cannabis differently and how those differences could affect the risk of cannabis use disorder.
  • The researchers controlled for menstrual cycle timing among the women in the study, who were not using hormonal birth control.
  • The findings suggest that a person's cannabis habits may be important when considering how men and women respond to the drug.

Men and women who used cannabis occasionally had similar peak THC levels, even though the men reported stronger effects, researchers found.

The UCLA Health study, published in the journal Neuropsychopharmacology, included 44 healthy adults between the ages of 21 and 55, evenly split between men and women.

Additional details
  • The findings challenge some previous research suggesting women may be more sensitive to the effects of cannabis.
  • Frequent users were also more likely than occasional users to say they liked the effects, wanted to use cannabis again and chose to take more during the study, regardless of gender.
  • "Much of what we thought we knew about sex differences in cannabis effects came from animal research and from human studies that pooled data from different trials," Dr.
  • The men also reported more unpleasant effects, including anxiety, and their heart rate rose significantly after using active cannabis.
  • TEST YOURSELF WITH OUR LATEST LIFESTYLE QUIZ "Studying both together is key to understanding who is most at risk of higher-risk, unpleasant or beneficial experiences from cannabis." There were several limitations to the findings, the researchers acknowledged.

How this summary was made: extractive summary — built from the sources' own reporting. It is drawn only from the reporting of the sources listed below — read the originals for full detail. How we summarize →

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