Cannabis and Asthma: What the Research Shows
Can medical marijuana help asthma? Research in people has not shown that it does. Smoke and hot vapor from any cannabis product travel straight into airways that asthma already keeps inflamed, and the larger studies link cannabis use with more asthma and harder attacks, not fewer. Forms that are not inhaled skip the airways, yet THC, drowsiness and interactions with your other medicines come with every form, so whether any of it fits your situation is a decision to make with a physician who sees your full inhaler list.
Built on peer-reviewed research published from 2005 to 2026: pooled analyses, large hospital and population studies, surveys and laboratory work
Living with asthma when inhalers aren’t the whole story
Most people with asthma know the routine by heart: the controller in the morning, the blue inhaler in the bag, the quick glance at the weather and the pollen count. And most of them also know the days when the routine is not enough.
Nights that end at 3 a.m.
Asthma is often worse at night. You wake up coughing or with a tight chest, reach for the inhaler, and lie awake waiting for your breathing to settle. A few nights like that and the whole week runs on empty. Waking at night because of asthma is also one of the signs doctors use to judge whether asthma is under control, so it is worth telling them about rather than putting up with.
A life planned around your lungs
Skipping the run because the air is cold, leaving a friend’s place early because of the cat, checking every hotel room for smoke. On top of that come the medicines themselves: a hoarse voice or thrush from inhaled steroids, a shaky hand after the rescue inhaler, mood or sleep changes some people notice on montelukast. None of this is imagined, and none of it means you are doing asthma “wrong.”
Advice that contradicts itself
Search for asthma and cannabis and you will find forum threads saying a joint “opens the lungs” next to warnings that it ruins them. Smoke sold as relief is the most common mix-up, and it is exactly the one this page untangles: what the research measured, what it did not, and what a physician will want to know before any cannabis product enters the picture.
What sounds most like you?
Pick the closest; it shows where this page answers it.
Night symptoms: waking with cough or wheeze is a sign that asthma is not fully controlled, and it is one of the questions in the standard control checks. See asthma symptoms, attacks and flare-ups.
Using the rescue inhaler a lot: needing quick relief often is the clearest reason to review the treatment plan, which usually means a step up in the controller, not more puffs. See asthma treatment and the step-up approach.
Side effects of medicines: most of them have practical fixes, such as a spacer, rinsing after a steroid inhaler or a different device. Bring them up rather than stopping a medicine. See how asthma medicines and cannabis interact.
Smoke at home: tobacco, wood, scented candles and cannabis smoke are all common triggers inside the home. See an asthma-safe home.
Wondering about cannabis: the short version is above; the full picture, study by study, is in what studies in people show.
What is asthma? Definition, causes and triggers
Asthma (pronounced AZ-muh) is a long-term lung condition in which the airways stay inflamed and overreact to triggers such as allergens, smoke, cold air or infections. During a flare the muscles around the airways tighten, the lining swells and makes extra mucus, and air struggles to get in and out, causing wheezing, coughing and breathlessness.
What causes it? Asthma is caused by a response of the immune system. In people who are prone to it, the airway lining reacts to things that are harmless for others, and that reaction keeps the airways sensitive between attacks too. Genes, allergies, early-life infections, tobacco smoke and air at home or at work all shape who develops it and when [1].
Allergic asthma
What it is: the most common type, especially when asthma starts in childhood; it often travels with hay fever or eczema.
What sets it off: pollen, dust mites, pet dander, mold and cockroach allergens.
What it means for you: allergy testing and cutting exposure at home are part of treatment, not extras.
Non-allergic asthma
What it is: asthma without a clear allergy behind it, more often starting in adulthood.
What sets it off: colds and flu, cold air, exercise, smoke, strong scents, workplace dust and fumes.
What it means for you: controlling irritants and infections matters most, and allergy shots will not help.
Quick answers
Is asthma genetic or hereditary?
Partly. Asthma runs in families: having a parent with asthma or allergies raises a child’s chance of developing it. But many genes each add a little risk, and the environment decides a lot, which is why two siblings can grow up with different lungs.
Can asthma be prevented?
Not reliably, but attacks often can. Keeping smoke away from children, avoiding known allergens, getting yearly flu shots and taking a controller medicine as prescribed all lower the number of flare-ups. Workplace asthma can sometimes be prevented outright by protecting workers from dusts and fumes.
How is asthma linked to allergies?
Allergy and asthma share the same immune pathway. In allergic asthma, breathing in an allergen makes the immune system release signals that swell the airway lining and draw in eosinophils, a type of white blood cell. Treating the allergy, for example with avoidance or allergy shots, can ease the asthma as well.
What does “asthmatic” mean?
It simply describes a person who has asthma, or symptoms that look like asthma, such as “asthmatic bronchitis.” Many people prefer “a person with asthma”; doctors use both.
Asthma symptoms, attacks and flare-ups
The four classic asthma symptoms are cough, wheezing (a whistling sound when you breathe out), shortness of breath and a tight chest. They come and go, and they tend to be worse at night, early in the morning, with exercise or after contact with a trigger. A flare-up, which doctors call an exacerbation, is a stretch of hours or days when those symptoms build up and your usual medicine no longer keeps them in check.
Everyday symptoms
- A dry cough, often at night
- Wheezing when breathing out
- Breathlessness on stairs or in cold air
- Chest tightness after exercise
A flare-up (exacerbation)
- Symptoms most of the day and night
- The rescue inhaler helps for a shorter time
- Peak flow drops below your usual
- Talking or walking makes you breathless
Call 911
- You cannot finish a sentence
- Lips or fingernails look blue or gray
- The rescue inhaler is not helping
- The skin between the ribs sucks in with each breath
Can asthma cause other symptoms?
Can asthma cause back pain?
Indirectly. Hard breathing and long coughing spells strain the muscles between the ribs and in the upper back, which can ache afterwards. Pain that is sharp, one-sided or comes with fever needs a doctor, because it can point to something other than asthma.
Can asthma cause chest pain?
Chest tightness is a typical asthma symptom, and sore chest muscles after coughing are common. Crushing pain, pain that spreads to the arm or jaw, or pain with sweating is an emergency whether or not you have asthma: call 911.
Can asthma cause heart palpitations?
The rescue inhaler is the usual cause: albuterol and similar medicines can make the heart race or flutter for a short while. A struggling breath during an attack also speeds the heart. Palpitations that last, or come with fainting or chest pain, need checking.
Can asthma cause a fever?
Asthma itself does not. A fever during a flare-up usually means an infection, such as a cold, flu or pneumonia, which is also a common reason for the flare. Tell your doctor, since the infection may need its own treatment.
Is medical cannabis worth discussing with your asthma?
Twelve short questions about your asthma, your medicines and what you hope to change. Your answers stay in this browser and show what to bring to a physician.
12 questions · about a minute · your answers stay in this browser
How is asthma diagnosed? Tests, severity and control
There is no single asthma test. A doctor puts the diagnosis together from your history (what the symptoms are, when they come and what sets them off) and from breathing tests that show airflow narrowing which gets better with medicine or changes from day to day. In adults and older children, guidelines ask for that proof on a test, not just on symptoms [3].
Spirometry
What it measures: how much air you can blow out and how fast.
How it goes: you take a deep breath and blow hard into a tube, then repeat after a few puffs of a rescue medicine.
What a result means: airflow that improves clearly after the puffs supports asthma.
Peak flow
What it measures: your fastest single breath out, on a small handheld meter.
How it goes: readings at home, morning and evening, for a couple of weeks.
What a result means: big swings from day to day point to asthma; your personal best anchors your action plan.
FeNO
What it measures: nitric oxide in your breath, a marker of allergic-type airway inflammation.
How it goes: one slow, steady breath out into a device; it takes minutes.
What a result means: a high level supports asthma and suggests inhaled steroids are likely to help.
If those tests are normal but the story still sounds like asthma, a lung specialist may use a challenge test, in which you breathe in a substance that tightens sensitive airways under supervision. Allergy tests and a chest X-ray help rule other things in or out.
Asthma classification: how severe is it?
Before treatment starts, US guidelines grade asthma by how often symptoms and attacks happen. The chart below is the classic version for people 12 and older; once treatment begins, doctors mostly track how well asthma is controlled instead.
Which sign do you want to compare?
Pick one; a clinician, not this table, sets your level.
| Level | Daytime symptoms | Night waking | Rescue inhaler use | Limits on activity | Lung function |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Intermittent | 2 days a week or less | 2 times a month or less | 2 days a week or less | None | Normal between flares, above 80 percent |
| Mild persistent | More than 2 days a week, not daily | 3 to 4 times a month | More than 2 days a week, not daily | Minor | 80 percent or more |
| Moderate persistent | Daily | More than once a week, not nightly | Daily | Some | 60 to 80 percent |
| Severe persistent | Throughout the day | Often every night | Several times a day | Extreme | Below 60 percent |
Asthma Control Test
The Asthma Control Test (ACT) is a short questionnaire about the past month: how often asthma kept you from work or school, woke you up, made you short of breath or sent you for the rescue inhaler [5]. It is meant for people already diagnosed, not for making a diagnosis. Fill it in before an appointment and bring the score; it turns “it’s been okay, I guess” into a number your doctor can compare over time.
Asthma ICD-10 codes
You may see these codes on a referral, a bill or a medical record. They come from ICD-10-CM, the US version of the international disease classification [6]; the right code is chosen by the clinician who writes the record.
| Code | What it describes |
|---|---|
| J45.20, J45.21, J45.22 | Mild intermittent asthma |
| J45.30, J45.31, J45.32 | Mild persistent asthma |
| J45.40, J45.41, J45.42 | Moderate persistent asthma |
| J45.50, J45.51, J45.52 | Severe persistent asthma |
| J45.901 | Unspecified asthma with an acute exacerbation |
| J45.902 | Unspecified asthma with status asthmaticus |
| J45.909 | Unspecified asthma, uncomplicated |
| J45.990, J45.991, J45.998 | Exercise-induced bronchospasm, cough variant asthma, other asthma |
Asthma treatment and medications: 2026 guidelines
Asthma treatment has two jobs: calm the inflammation that keeps the airways twitchy, and open them quickly when a flare starts. The international Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) publishes a strategy report every year; the 2026 edition is the current one [3]. In the US, doctors also follow the National Asthma Education and Prevention Program, last updated in 2020 [7]. Both now favor inhalers that combine an inhaled steroid with a fast-acting medicine, rather than a rescue inhaler alone.
Controller medicines
What they are: inhaled corticosteroids (steroids), alone or combined with a long-acting reliever such as formoterol; montelukast tablets; add-on inhalers; biologic injections for severe asthma.
How often: every day, or with each symptom in the newer combined approach.
Why: they lower the number of attacks and protect the lungs over time.
Quick-relief (rescue) medicines
What they are: albuterol or levalbuterol inhalers, or an inhaler that pairs a steroid with fast-acting formoterol.
How often: only when symptoms start or before exercise.
Why: they relax the airway muscles within minutes; needing them often is a signal to step up control.
Step-up therapy
Treatment follows steps. You start where your symptoms put you, move up when asthma is not controlled and down once it has been stable for a while. In the 2026 GINA approach for adults and teens, the preferred track looks like this [3]:
- Steps 1 and 2: a low-dose inhaler that combines a steroid with formoterol, used only when needed.
- Step 3: the same combination taken every day as well as for relief, often called maintenance-and-reliever therapy.
- Step 4: a medium daily dose of that combination.
- Step 5: referral to a specialist, tests of the type of inflammation, and add-ons such as a long-acting muscarinic inhaler or a biologic.
- Any step: check inhaler technique, adherence, triggers and other conditions before moving up.
A second track, with a separate rescue inhaler and a daily steroid, remains an option when the combination inhaler is not available or not covered.
Biologic therapy for severe asthma
Biologics are injected antibodies that switch off one step of the allergic or eosinophilic inflammation behind severe asthma: omalizumab, mepolizumab, reslizumab, benralizumab, dupilumab and tezepelumab. A specialist picks one based on blood eosinophils, FeNO and allergy tests. They are added to inhalers, not used instead of them, and they can sharply cut the number of attacks and the need for steroid tablets [3].
Beta-blockers and asthma
Beta-blockers treat high blood pressure, heart disease and migraine, and some eye drops for glaucoma contain them. Non-selective ones such as propranolol can tighten the airways and are generally avoided in asthma. Cardioselective ones such as metoprolol or bisoprolol act mostly on the heart and are often tolerated when there is a strong reason to use them, but the choice and the first dose belong with your doctors, not with a list online. In rare conditions the rules change: a 2025 case report described a man with Loeys-Dietz syndrome, a connective tissue disorder, in whom beta-blockers were avoided because of the risk to his asthma [8].
Asthma treatment in children
Children follow their own steps, with lower doses. Young children use a spacer with a face mask, and a nebulizer is an option when they cannot use an inhaler. A written action plan should go to school or daycare. Keeping smoke of any kind out of the home and car matters more for a child’s lungs than almost any medicine change.
Asthma inhalers: types, how to use them and what they cost
The same medicine can come in different devices, and the device decides how much of it reaches your lungs. Many people use their inhaler in a way that leaves most of the dose in the mouth and throat, which is why doctors check technique before raising a dose.
Which inhaler do you have?
Pick yours to see how it works.
Metered-dose inhaler
The classic “asthma pump”: a pressurized canister that sprays a set dose when pressed. Most rescue inhalers work this way. It needs a slow breath timed with the press, which is hard for many people.
Dry powder inhaler
The dose is a fine powder released by your own breath, so you breathe in fast and deep. No shaking and no spacer. It may not suit young children or a severe attack, when a strong breath is hard.
Soft mist inhaler
Makes a slow-moving cloud that lasts longer than a spray, which makes timing easier. You load it by turning the base before each dose.
Spacer
A tube or chamber that attaches to a metered-dose inhaler and holds the puff while you breathe it in. More medicine reaches the lungs and less lands in your throat, so steroid side effects like hoarseness drop.
Nebulizer
A small machine that turns liquid medicine into a mist breathed through a mask or mouthpiece over several minutes. Used for small children and some severe flares; a spacer works as well for most people.
How to use a metered-dose inhaler with a spacer
The steps follow the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute guide How to Use a Metered-Dose Inhaler [9]. Tap each step as you do it.
What an inhaler costs
The price at the pharmacy counter depends less on the medicine than on how you pay for it. What moves it most:
- Your insurance formulary. Plans favor certain brands; the same type of inhaler can cost very different amounts depending on its tier.
- Generics and authorized generics. Several rescue and combination inhalers now have them, and they usually cost less.
- Manufacturer programs. Inhaler makers run savings cards and patient assistance programs; some have capped monthly out-of-pocket costs for eligible patients.
- Pharmacy and supply. Prices differ between pharmacies, and a 90-day supply is often cheaper per dose.
If cost is why you stretch your inhaler, say so to your doctor or pharmacist: there is almost always a covered option that works the same way.
Asthma action plan and home remedies: what actually helps
An asthma action plan is a one-page sheet your doctor fills in with you: which medicine to take every day, what to do when symptoms build, and when to get emergency help. A widely used template is the NHLBI Asthma Action Plan, a free printable PDF [10]; schools often ask for a copy as their asthma form. The plan splits your days into three zones, much like a traffic light.
Which zone are you in today?
Pick one to see what a typical plan says; your own plan has your medicines and doses.
Green zone: doing well
How you feel: no cough, wheeze or tight chest; you sleep through the night and can do your usual activities. Peak flow is 80 percent or more of your personal best [10].
What the plan usually says: take your daily controller as prescribed and use the rescue inhaler before exercise if your doctor advised it.
Yellow zone: asthma is getting worse
How you feel: cough, wheeze, tight chest or shortness of breath, waking at night, or some activities are hard. Peak flow is 50 to 79 percent of your best [10].
What the plan usually says: add quick-relief puffs as written, keep taking the controller, and call your doctor if you are not back in the green zone within the time your plan sets.
Red zone: medical alert
How you feel: very short of breath, the quick-relief medicine has not helped, you cannot do usual activities, or symptoms are the same or worse after the yellow-zone steps. Peak flow is below 50 percent of your best [10].
What the plan usually says: take your quick-relief medicine now and get help. Call 911 if you have trouble walking or talking, or your lips or fingernails turn blue or gray.
Home remedies for asthma
People with asthma often reach for home and herbal remedies alongside their prescriptions, and many do not mention them to their doctor. A survey of patients at a chest clinic in Trinidad found herbal remedy use common enough that the authors urged doctors to ask about it, because some herbs may interact with asthma medicines [11]. Here is what holds up.
Has support
- Finding and avoiding your own triggers at home
- Breathing retraining with a trained therapist, for symptoms and quality of life
- Staying active, with a warm-up and your plan’s pre-exercise puffs
- Losing weight if you carry extra, and stopping smoking
- Flu and other recommended vaccines
No good evidence
- Herbal mixtures sold as asthma cures
- Essential oils and steam with scents, which can trigger attacks
- Cutting dairy or other foods without a proven allergy
- Smoking or vaping anything to “open the lungs”
Home steps do not replace medicines. They make the medicines you already take work better and help you need them less.
An asthma-safe home: air fresheners, cleaners, candles and smoke
Indoor air is where most people with asthma spend most of their time, and much of what makes a home smell “clean” is exactly what irritates sensitive airways. You do not need to replace everything at once. Start with the things you use daily and the room where you sleep.
Two kinds of help exist. The Asthma & Allergy Friendly Certification Program, run by the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America with Allergy Standards Limited, tests household products such as cleaners, laundry products, air cleaners and filters, vacuums, bedding, paint and flooring [12]. It does not cover candles, air fresheners or cat litter, so a label on those claiming to be “asthma safe” has not passed this program. And many state and local health departments run asthma-safe homes programs, in which a trained visitor checks your home for triggers; the EPA asthma pages point to community programs and trigger guides [13].
What do you want to check?
Pick one area of the home.
Air fresheners and candles
Why they can set off symptoms: sprays, plug-ins and scented candles release fragrance chemicals and fine particles; burning anything adds smoke.
What to look for: open windows and an exhaust fan instead of scent; if you want a candle, unscented and in a ventilated room, never near the bed.
Cleaning products
Why they can set off symptoms: bleach, ammonia and spray cleaners put irritants straight into the air you breathe.
What to look for: fragrance-free liquids poured on a cloth rather than sprayed, products with the Asthma & Allergy Friendly mark [12], and a damp cloth for dust; never mix bleach with other cleaners.
Perfume and scents
Why they can set off symptoms: strong fragrance is one of the most common non-allergic triggers, from perfume to scented laundry products.
What to look for: fragrance-free personal and laundry products, and a household agreement on scents in shared rooms.
Cat litter
Why it can set off symptoms: clay litter throws up dust, scented litter adds fragrance, and cat allergen lives on the litter box too.
What to look for: low-dust, unscented litter, a box away from the bedroom, and someone without asthma doing the scooping where possible.
Gas stove
Why it can set off symptoms: burning gas releases nitrogen dioxide and other irritants into the kitchen air.
What to look for: a range hood that vents outside, used every time you cook; back burners first; a window open; an induction hot plate if you are replacing equipment.
Smoke, including cannabis
Why it can set off symptoms: tobacco, wood and cannabis smoke all carry fine particles and irritants deep into the airways, and smoke lingers in fabrics.
What to look for: a home and car where nobody smokes or vapes anything, including outdoors by an open window. A HEPA air cleaner reduces particles but does not make indoor smoke safe.
The risks of smoking cannabis around children · Why cannabis comes up in asthma at all
Why cannabis comes up in asthma at all: CBD and airway inflammation
The idea did not come from nowhere. Your body has its own cannabinoid signaling network, the endocannabinoid system, with receptors called CB1 and CB2 that cannabis compounds also act on. Its parts are present in the cells that line the airways: a 2020 study of gene activity in airway lining cells, taken from healthy people and from people with asthma or COPD, mapped them and checked whether their levels differed by sex and by lung disease [15].
Researchers are interested because these receptors sit on immune cells too. In laboratory work, cannabinoids change the release of the signals that drive allergic asthma, such as IL-4, IL-5 and IL-13, and the recruitment of eosinophils, the white blood cells that pile up in allergic airways [2]. That is a reason to study them. It is not evidence that any cannabis product helps a person breathe better.
In cells and mice
What was tested: CBD-X, a high-CBD extract with 35% CBD and 0.3% THC, on human immune cells in the lab and in mice with an allergic asthma model, given at 300 mg/kg [16].
What changed: lower release of Th2 signals, the allergic type, and less neutrophil and eosinophil activity; in the treated mice, white blood cell counts fell by 51% [16].
What it means: a lead for drug research, in animals only.
In people with asthma
What was tested: nothing comparable. The authors of the CBD-X study write that trials in people with asthma are still pending [16].
What changed: no human data on breathing, attacks or medicine use.
What it means: no cannabis product can be called an asthma treatment.
Animal results do not transfer to people: a mouse model carries one engineered form of allergic inflammation, and a dose per kilogram in mice does not translate to a human dose.
How the mouse study was done
The team first exposed human immune cells in the lab to the extract and measured the inflammatory signals they released. Then mice were sensitized to an allergen so that their airways reacted like allergic asthma, and some received CBD-X at 300 mg/kg. Afterward the researchers counted immune cells: total white blood cells fell by 51% and eosinophils by 58% in the treated mice [16]. The exact signaling pathways were not fully worked out, and the extract has not been tested in patients.
The endocannabinoid system, explained · What studies in people show
Can cannabis help asthma? What studies in people show
No study in people with asthma has shown that cannabis improves breathing, prevents attacks or reduces the need for asthma medicines. What the research in people does show points the other way: cannabis use, and especially smoking it, is linked with having asthma, with more medicine use and with worse outcomes in hospital and in the emergency room. Those studies watch people rather than test a treatment, so they show links, not proof that cannabis causes the harm.
| Level | What exists for asthma | What it can and cannot tell you |
|---|---|---|
| Pooled studies and reviews | A 2025 meta-analysis that pooled observational studies of cannabis use and asthma [17]; a 2025 narrative review of cannabinoids in asthma [2]. No trial of a cannabis product as asthma care is among them. | Shows a consistent link between use and asthma; cannot separate cannabis from tobacco or show cause. |
| Studies that observe people | A nationwide study of 552,160 asthma hospital stays [18], a matched study of teens in the emergency room [19], a long-term study of young Norwegian adults [20] and large school surveys [14]. | Shows who does worse and how much; relies on records and self-report, and rarely knows how cannabis was used. |
| Animal and lab work | Human cells and mice treated with a high-CBD extract [16]; maps of the endocannabinoid system in airway cells [15]. | Explains why scientists are curious; says nothing yet about patients. |
How much more often do breathing problems show up with cannabis use?
How to read it: each row compares people who used cannabis with people who did not. The dot is the study’s best estimate of how much more often the problem showed up; the bar around it is the likely range (the confidence interval). The gray line marks no difference: a dot to its right means the problem was more common with cannabis, to its left less common. The scale doubles at each mark.
Having asthma
In hospital with asthma, with a cannabis use disorder
Show as a table
| Comparison | Measure | Estimate (95% CI) | Study |
|---|---|---|---|
| Asthma, cannabis use vs none | Pooled OR | 1.31 (1.19-1.44) | 2025 meta-analysis [17] |
| Asthma, teens with secondhand cannabis smoke | Adjusted OR | 1.23 (1.16-1.33) | 2024 survey [14] |
| Filling asthma prescriptions, young adults | OR | 1.71 (1.06-2.77) | 2019 cohort [20] |
| Death in hospital, cannabis use disorder | Adjusted OR | 2.4 (1.62-3.55) | 2025 cohort [18] |
| Status asthmaticus, cannabis use disorder | Adjusted OR | 1.35 (1.07-1.71) | 2025 cohort [18] |
| Respiratory failure, day 0-1, teen co-use | RR | 4.63 (2.71-7.89) | 2026 cohort [19] |
| Hospital admission, day 0-1, teen co-use | RR | 2.47 (1.80-3.38) | 2026 cohort [19] |
| Repeat attack, days 1-30, teen co-use | RR | 1.72 (1.36-2.17) | 2026 cohort [19] |
All of these studies looked back at records or surveys. None separated smoking from vaping or edibles, and each shows that cannabis use and worse asthma go together, not that one causes the other.
The teen study adds detail worth knowing. Among adolescents treated in the emergency room for an asthma flare, matched groups of 2,679 who used cannabis, 4,604 who used nicotine and 1,045 who used both were compared with teens who used neither; the co-use group also returned to the emergency room more often within a month (risk ratio 1.54, 95% CI 1.29-1.85) and had more pneumonia (risk ratio 2.2, 95% CI 1.05-4.62) [19]. In the adult hospital study, patients with a cannabis use disorder were much younger, with a mean age of 35.3 against 51.4, and their stays cost about $2,091 more after adjustment [18].
Browse the studies yourself
Every study cited on this page, in plain words. Background studies that are not about cannabis are marked.
Cannabis use and the risk of asthma
Pooling observational studies, people who used cannabis had higher odds of an asthma diagnosis (odds ratio 1.31, 95% CI 1.19-1.44), with moderate differences between studies (I² 46%) [17].
Is there a place for cannabinoids in asthma treatment?
Lab findings on the endocannabinoid system are intriguing, but human data on plant cannabinoids for asthma are insufficient, and smoked cannabis harms the airways [2].
Montelukast and mood or sleep changes
Results on neuropsychiatric effects of this asthma tablet were mixed; in one large records database, users had no clear rise in major depression (odds ratio 1.05, 95% CI 0.96-1.15) [21].
Teens in the ER with asthma who used nicotine, cannabis or both
Co-use went with far more respiratory failure on the first day (risk ratio 4.63, 95% CI 2.71-7.89) and more repeat attacks within a month [19].
Cannabis use disorder in adults hospitalized for asthma
4.2% of asthma stays involved a cannabis use disorder; those patients had higher odds of dying in hospital (odds ratio 2.4, 95% CI 1.62-3.55) [18].
Tobacco products and asthma in US adults
Cigarette use went with poorer asthma control, and cigar use with slightly higher odds of asthma (odds ratio 1.17, 95% CI 1.00-1.36) [22].
The endocannabinoid system in airway lining cells
Mapped the parts of the endocannabinoid system in airway cells from healthy people and people with asthma or COPD, and compared them by sex and disease [15].
Cannabis use and asthma medicines in young Norwegian adults
Current cannabis users were more likely to fill prescriptions for asthma medicines than people who had never used it (odds ratio 1.71, 95% CI 1.06-2.77) [20].
Work-related asthma in the cannabis industry
30 cases of work-related asthma across four states; 52% were new-onset asthma, 69% of workers were in indoor growing or processing, and 2 cases were fatal [23].
Secondhand cannabis smoke and teen asthma
12% of students with asthma and 9.3% without lived with secondhand marijuana smoke; exposure went with higher odds of asthma (adjusted odds ratio 1.23) [14].
E-cigarettes among adults with asthma in Florida
Adults with asthma who had used cannabis were more likely to have used e-cigarettes too (odds ratio 1.81, 95% CI 1.27-2.61) [24].
Cigarettes, e-cigarettes, cannabis and teen asthma
Compared asthma among high school students by which of these products they used, alone or together, and reports links between use and asthma [25].
Cannabis, vaping and smoking among US adults with asthma, state by state
Used a national health survey to estimate how many adults with asthma currently use cannabis, e-cigarettes or cigarettes in each state, and who is more likely to [26].
E-cigarettes and asthma in US teens
Current e-cigarette use went with higher odds of asthma (odds ratio 1.30, 95% CI 1.10-1.53) even after accounting for cigarettes and cannabis [27].
E-cigarettes and asthma in a multiethnic sample
Current e-cigarette use went with higher odds of current asthma (odds ratio 1.48, 95% CI 1.26-1.74) [28].
Herbal remedies used by people with asthma
Herbal remedy use alongside prescriptions was common, and the authors warn of possible interactions with asthma medicines [11].
Fatal occupational asthma in cannabis production
A 27-year-old worker grinding dried cannabis died of occupational asthma; 4 of 10 coworkers reported breathing or skin symptoms [29].
Loeys-Dietz syndrome and asthma
A 23-year-old man with a rare connective tissue disorder and asthma; the report discusses why beta-blockers were avoided and spirometry handled with care [8].
A high-CBD extract and allergic airway inflammation
CBD-X lowered allergic-type signals in human cells and cut eosinophil counts by 58% in mice; not tested in patients [16].
No studies of this type are cited on this page.
What kinds of studies is this evidence built on?
How to read it: each row is one kind of study, and the bar shows how many published studies on cannabinoids and asthma are of that kind. Stronger designs are at the top. Gray bars are commentary, animal and lab work, which cannot answer whether something helps patients.
Show as a table
| Design | Studies |
|---|---|
| Meta-analyses | 2 |
| Systematic reviews | 3 |
| Randomized trials | 4 |
| Other clinical trials | 3 |
| Cohort studies | 12 |
| Cross-sectional studies | 8 |
| Surveys | 5 |
| Case reports | 6 |
| Narrative reviews | 7 |
| Animal and lab studies | 9 |
| Who was studied | Studies |
|---|---|
| People in clinical studies | 14 |
| People observed, not treated | 42 |
| Whole populations | 23 |
| Animals | 2 |
| Cells and molecules | 3 |
| Not classified | 10 |
Can you smoke cannabis with asthma? Each form, one by one
Smoking cannabis with asthma is the one choice the research speaks against most clearly. Burning plant material makes smoke with many of the same irritants as tobacco smoke, and it lands on airways that are already inflamed; reviewers link inhaled cannabis with more airway inflammation, twitchier airways and more severe attacks [2]. Vaping avoids burning but still sends hot aerosol down the same airways. Forms you swallow, hold under the tongue or put on the skin skip the lungs, but they keep everything else that comes with THC, so they are not an asthma treatment and not automatically safe.
How do you use it, or how would you?
Choose the closest; many people combine more than one.
Specific to smoking
Joints, blunts, pipes and bongs burn plant material. The smoke carries tar, fine particles and irritant gases deep into the lungs, and people tend to hold it in longer than tobacco smoke. A blunt adds tobacco on top. For someone with asthma this is the form most directly at odds with the lungs, which is why the cough after a joint is not a sign of anything clearing.
Specific to vaping and dabbing
Dry-herb vaporizers heat cannabis without burning it; oil pens and cartridges heat a liquid concentrate; dabbing flash-heats wax, shatter or rosin. There is no smoke, but a hot aerosol still travels the same airways, cartridges can contain thinning agents and flavorings, and concentrates are very strong. Is vaping safer for asthma? Studies on asthma rarely separate vaping from smoking [19], so nobody can say.
Shared devices
A joint, pipe or vape passed around also passes colds, flu and other respiratory infections, and a chest infection is one of the most common triggers of an asthma flare.
Specific to edibles and capsules
Gummies, chocolates, baked goods, drinks, capsules and swallowed oils avoid the lungs entirely. They start working slowly, often after an hour or more, last much longer than inhaled cannabis, and pass through the liver before reaching the blood. The classic mistake is a second piece “because the first did nothing,” which is a frequent cause of taking far too much: racing heart, panic, vomiting and a trip to the emergency room.
Specific to tinctures and sprays
Drops or oils held under the tongue and mouth sprays also skip the lungs, and the dose is counted in drops or sprays. Part of every dose is still swallowed, so the slow, liver-processed effect of edibles applies too.
Specific to topicals and patches
Creams, balms and salves act mostly where they are applied and do little elsewhere in the body. Transdermal patches are different: they are designed to move cannabinoids into the bloodstream, so everything that applies to THC in the blood applies to them.
Specific to prescription cannabinoids
Dronabinol (Marinol, Syndros), nabilone (Cesamet) and cannabidiol (Epidiolex) are FDA-approved medicines with exact doses, filled at a pharmacy on a prescription rather than bought with a medical card. None is approved for asthma, and none has been tested as an asthma treatment.
True of every form
- THC can blunt how you feel a tightening chest, so an attack can feel milder than it is and help comes later [2].
- It causes drowsiness and slower reactions: no driving after use.
- Whatever reaches the blood is handled by liver enzymes that also handle many medicines [21].
- THC and CBD act differently; a result for one does not carry over to the other.
Whether any form fits your situation is a conversation for the appointment, not a choice this page makes for you.
All forms as a table
| Form | Airways | What applies anyway | Known in asthma |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smoking | Smoke, tar and particles reach inflamed airways | THC effects, interactions, shared devices | Linked with more asthma and worse outcomes; no clinical data on benefit |
| Vaping & dabbing | Hot aerosol, additives in cartridges | Very strong concentrates, interactions, shared devices | Rarely separated from smoking in studies; no clinical data on benefit |
| Edibles & capsules | Not inhaled | Slow and long effect, risk of a repeat dose, liver processing, interactions | No clinical data in asthma |
| Tinctures & sprays | Not inhaled | Partly swallowed, liver processing, interactions | No clinical data in asthma |
| Topicals | Not inhaled | Skin reactions; little effect elsewhere | No clinical data in asthma |
| Transdermal patches | Not inhaled | THC in the blood, interactions | No clinical data in asthma |
| Prescription cannabinoids | Capsules or oral solution | Drowsiness, interactions | Not approved or tested for asthma |
What science doesn’t know yet
Most of the big questions a person with asthma would ask about cannabis have no answer yet. The researchers behind the studies on this page say so themselves, and they name the same gaps again and again.
- No trials in people with asthma. Human clinical data on plant cannabinoids for asthma are insufficient [2], and the most promising lab extract still awaits its first trial in patients [16].
- Records, not experiments. The largest studies looked back at hospital and emergency records, where a diagnosis code can be missing or wrong [19][18].
- How cannabis was used is unknown. Vaping and smoking were not told apart, and a cannabis use disorder was recorded as yes or no, without how often, how much or in what form [19][18].
- Asthma severity and treatment were not recorded. Nobody knows whether the people who did worse had milder or harder-to-control asthma, or took their controller medicine [19].
- Snapshots, not timelines. Most pooled studies are cross-sectional and rely on what people report about themselves, so they cannot show which came first [17][14].
- Tobacco gets in the way. Many people who use cannabis also smoke or vape nicotine, which muddies every comparison [2][17].
- Work-related asthma is undercounted. Cases in the cannabis industry are likely underreported, so the real burden is probably larger [23].
What would change the picture: trials of specific, measured products (for example a CBD-only preparation taken by mouth) in people with well-described asthma, studies that record the form and amount used, and long-term follow-up of lung function. Until then, the honest answer is that cannabis is a question to discuss, not a treatment to try.
Safety and interactions with asthma medicines
No study has tested cannabis together with modern asthma inhalers in a controlled way. What exists is what the research knows about how these substances work in the body, and that is what a physician will weigh against your medicine list. Pick what you take to see what applies to you.
What do you take?
Asthma medicines taken together with other remedies mechanism only
Researchers who studied people with asthma using herbal remedies alongside their prescriptions warn that taking them together could lead to serious interactions with conventional asthma medicines [11]. This is based on how the substances work, not on measured cases, and it is the reason your physician asks about everything you take, cannabis included.
THC and the sense of how bad an attack is mechanism only
Because THC changes perception, it may make breathlessness feel less alarming than it is and delay the rescue inhaler or a call for help [2]. If you use any THC product, make sure someone around you knows your action plan.
Montelukast mechanism only
This tablet carries an FDA warning about mood and sleep changes, and a 2023 systematic review found the evidence on those effects mixed [21]. That review studied montelukast itself, not cannabis. It matters here because THC also affects mood and sleep, so a physician will want to know if you take both and how you have felt on montelukast.
Liver enzymes (CYP450) mechanism only
Cannabinoids and many medicines are broken down by the same family of liver enzymes, CYP450, and genetic differences in these enzymes may change how a person handles a drug [21]. With several prescriptions, that is a reason to review the list one medicine at a time.
Tobacco and nicotine mechanism only
Bring the full list to the appointment: every inhaler with its dose, tablets, allergy medicines, supplements, herbal products and any cannabis or CBD product with its label. That list, more than the asthma diagnosis itself, decides what a physician can safely recommend.
Who should be especially careful · What to do if you are considering it
Who should be especially careful
For some people the answer is “not now” or “not this way,” whatever the hoped-for benefit. These are the groups where the studies saw the most harm or where safety is simply unknown.
- Teens and young adults. In adolescents with asthma, cannabis use, and above all cannabis with nicotine, went with more intensive emergency care [19].
- Anyone who also smokes or vapes nicotine. The combination carried the highest risks in the teen study [19].
- Severe or poorly controlled asthma, or recent emergency visits. Hospital patients with a cannabis use disorder had higher odds of a severe attack and of dying in hospital; doctors are urged to screen asthma patients for it [18].
- Asthma with allergies. Reviewers advise people with asthma and allergies to avoid smoking cannabis because of airway obstruction and severe attacks [2].
- Children near smoke. Secondhand cannabis smoke at home is linked with teen asthma [14]; children with asthma should not be around smoke of any kind.
- Pregnancy and breastfeeding. THC reaches the baby, and no study here supports its use in pregnancy.
Your situation: where to start
People reach this page from very different places. Find yours; each card ends with the next useful step.
A first evaluation
You have asthma and want to know whether a medical card is possible where you live and whether it makes sense for you.
Renewing a card
Your card or recommendation is close to expiring. Renewal is a new evaluation with your updated medicine list.
Moved to another state
A card from one state is not automatically valid in another, and you usually need to register where you now live.
Already on asthma medicines
Controllers, rescue inhalers, montelukast or a biologic: the interactions come first, the card second.
Lost your card? See what to do if your medical card is lost.
Is asthma a qualifying condition for a medical marijuana card?
It depends on your state, and in most states asthma is not named on the list. Every medical cannabis program keeps its own list of qualifying conditions, and a physician has to match a diagnosis in your records to that list. Some programs let a physician certify any chronic or debilitating condition they judge appropriate; others accept only named diagnoses. Because the research links inhaled cannabis with worse asthma, a physician evaluating you will look hard at your inhalers, your recent attacks and how you would use cannabis, not just at the diagnosis.
Your state names asthma or a broad category
Some programs list chronic or debilitating conditions in general terms. Bring your asthma records; the physician decides whether your situation fits that wording.
A condition you also have is listed
Chronic pain, anxiety or insomnia may be on the list even where asthma is not. What counts is a diagnosis in your records, not a symptom alone.
Neither is on the list
A card may not be available yet where you live. Some states accept petitions to add conditions or let physicians certify other debilitating conditions.
What else has a doctor diagnosed?
State lists name diagnoses, not symptoms. Pick what is in your records; treat it as a question for the physician, not a shortcut.
Anxiety: several states list anxiety disorders or accept them under broader wording, and anxiety often travels with hard-to-control asthma. Read anxiety and medical cannabis.
Insomnia: poor sleep from night-time asthma is common; a diagnosed sleep disorder is listed in some programs. Read insomnia and medical cannabis.
Chronic pain: the most widely listed condition across state programs. Read chronic pain and medical cannabis.
Depression: fewer states list it, and THC can affect mood in both directions. Read depression and medical cannabis.
None of these: then the decision rests on your state’s wording and the physician’s judgment. Start with your state’s medical marijuana laws.
Medical card vs recreational: what changes
In states with adult-use sales, adults can buy without a card. A card still changes several things, and it also comes with limits worth knowing. The details are set state by state.
| Aspect | With a medical card | Recreational |
|---|---|---|
| Taxes | Often lower; some states waive part of the cannabis tax for patients | Full state and local cannabis taxes |
| Purchase and possession limits | Often higher; depends on your state | Set for adult-use buyers |
| Products | Medical dispensaries and, in some states, medical-only products | Adult-use product range |
| Age | Patient age rules set by each program | Adult-use age limit set by the state |
| Physician involvement | A licensed physician reviews your conditions and medicines | None |
| Document | State card or recommendation, recorded in a confidential registry | Government ID only |
| Limits of the card | Valid for a set period; not automatically honored in other states; does not override employer or federal rules | Same federal and employer rules |
State facts: legal status, possession limits, taxes, cultivation
Four things differ most from state to state, and each one is listed for your state on the laws and regulations pages:
- Legal status: whether your state has a medical program only, or adult-use sales as well.
- Possession limits: how much a patient may buy and carry, compared with an adult-use buyer.
- Taxes: whether patients are exempt from some cannabis taxes.
- Cultivation: whether a patient may grow plants at home, and how many.
Will a card save you money?
It can, but only where your state taxes patients less than recreational buyers, and the amount depends on your state’s tax rates and how much you buy. Weigh that against the evaluation fee and any state registration fee. The breakdown is in medical vs. recreational cannabis taxes, and the wider differences in medical and recreational cannabis compared.
What the program in your state involves
Qualifying is the first of two steps. In most states a physician’s recommendation is followed by registration with the state health department, which issues the card and enters you in a confidential patient registry; in a few, the recommendation itself is what a dispensary asks for. Purchases happen at licensed dispensaries, some of which deliver, and products there are lab-tested and labeled with their THC and CBD content.
Many state laws also let a patient name a registered caregiver who may buy and handle products on their behalf; who qualifies and how to register is set by each state. Cards from one state are not automatically valid in another; see which states accept out-of-state cards and traveling with cannabis.
Legal protections: firearms, employment and privacy
Firearms
Buying a gun from a licensed dealer means filling in ATF Form 4473, which asks whether you are an unlawful user of a controlled substance. Federal law has long treated any cannabis user as covered by that question, whatever a state allows. In May 2026 the ATF proposed revising the form so that medical cannabis used in line with state and federal law would be excluded; at the time of the notice the revision was a proposal, not a final rule [30]. Check the current form and talk to a lawyer before you buy or carry.
Employment and drug tests
Protections for card holders at work differ by state. Some states bar employers from firing or refusing to hire someone only for being a registered patient; many still allow drug-free workplace policies and testing, and safety-sensitive and federally regulated jobs follow federal rules. A card does not allow you to be impaired at work. Your state’s rules are on the laws and regulations pages.
Privacy of the registry
Your medical records are protected under the HIPAA Privacy Rule [31], and state patient registries are confidential: dispensaries and law enforcement can usually check only whether a card is valid. Your employer, landlord or insurer does not get access to the registry.
This is general information, not legal advice. Laws change, and your state’s current rules are the ones that count.
Talk to a licensed physician about asthma and medical cannabis
If you have asthma and are considering medical cannabis, a good evaluation is a frank conversation about your lungs, your medicines and what you hope to change, such as sleep, pain or anxiety. The physician will weigh the risks of each form against your situation and may well advise against inhaling anything. It goes faster and safer when the facts are on the table.
What to bring to the appointment
Tap each item as you get it ready.
Questions worth asking
- Given my asthma, which forms should I rule out completely?
- Could anything I take now interact, and what would we watch for?
- THC, CBD or both, and why for my goal?
- What should make me stop right away, and who do I call?
- Does my action plan need any change?
An evaluation makes sense if
- Your asthma is controlled and you keep taking your controller.
- You have a qualifying diagnosis or your state’s wording may cover you.
- You are open to forms that are not inhaled, or to no cannabis at all.
- Your full medicine list can be reviewed.
It is not the right step if
- The hope is to replace your inhalers.
- You had an emergency visit for asthma recently and it has not been reviewed.
- You are pregnant or breastfeeding.
- You plan to keep smoking anything.
This page summarizes published research for education. It does not replace a physician’s advice. Cannabis does not treat asthma, and inhaled cannabis is linked with worse asthma outcomes.
How to get a medical card with asthma online
Everything happens online, so there is nowhere to travel. Four steps take you from the first form to a card in your hand.
Fill in the intake form
Your state, your diagnoses and your current medicines. Have your asthma records and inhaler list ready to upload.
See a physician licensed in your state
A one-on-one appointment online. You agree on the time with the physician; keep an hour free rather than a minute.
Receive your signed recommendation
If the physician approves, the signed recommendation arrives in your account after the appointment.
Register with your state
Where required, you submit the recommendation to the state program, which reviews it and issues the card.
What you end up with
Across 250 reviews from patients in the states where we are licensed. We do not sort them by score and do not hide the low ones.
- 150,000+patients evaluated – everyone who has been through an appointment with us, in every state where we are licensed
- Since 2017doing only this: online evaluations for medical cannabis programs, and nothing else on the side
A recommendation from a physician licensed where you live, and, once your state registers it, a card that lets you buy at licensed dispensaries. Your documents stay in your account and documents, and how the medical card works explains the evaluation in detail. The physicians who see patients are listed on our physicians page. Programs for veterans and for people with low income are available in some states.
Price and what’s included
The price of the evaluation for your state is shown on your state page before you pay, and it covers the appointment and, if the physician approves, the signed recommendation. Any state registration fee is paid to the state, not to us. Whether a recommendation is issued is the physician’s medical decision; the conditions that apply if it is not are on how the medical card works.
Renewing your medical card
Cards and recommendations expire on a schedule your state sets, so it pays to start renewal a few weeks before the date on your card. Renewal is a new evaluation: bring any changes in your asthma, inhalers or other medicines since last time. Choose your state:
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- California
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- Illinois
- Iowa
- Louisiana
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- Missouri
- New York
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Pennsylvania
- Texas
- Virginia
- West Virginia
Who reviews this page
Every number on this page comes from a published study or an official source, marked where it appears and listed at the end. The content is reviewed by the medical team listed on our physicians page, and the date of the last review is shown under the first screen. Studies with neutral or negative results are included alongside the rest.
Asthma and cannabis: questions people ask
Can you smoke weed with asthma?
It is the form most clearly at odds with asthma. Cannabis smoke irritates and inflames the airways, and studies link cannabis use with more asthma, more asthma medicine use and worse outcomes in hospital [17][20][18]. Forms that are not inhaled avoid the smoke but not the effects of THC or the interactions, so any form is a question for a physician first.
Is vaping cannabis safer for asthma?
Does CBD help asthma?
Not in people, as far as anyone knows. A high-CBD extract calmed allergic inflammation in human cells and in mice [16], but it has never been tested in patients. A CBD product also may contain some THC, so check the label with your physician.
Can cannabis trigger an asthma attack?
Smoke of any kind can. In hospital data, people with asthma and a cannabis use disorder had higher odds of a severe, hard-to-treat attack [18], and teens who used cannabis with nicotine had more repeat attacks within a month of an emergency visit [19]. Plant dust is also a trigger for people who work with cannabis [23].
Do edibles affect asthma?
Edibles do not reach the lungs, so they skip the smoke problem. They have not been studied in asthma, they act slowly and for hours, and a second dose taken too soon is a common cause of a bad reaction. THC in any form can also blunt your sense of how bad an attack is [2].
Is delta-8 THC different?
Not in the ways that matter here. Delta-8 acts much like regular THC, is often sold as vapes, and hemp-derived products are less tightly regulated than dispensary products, so labels may not match what is inside.
Is asthma a qualifying condition in my state?
Usually not by name. Some states let physicians certify chronic or debilitating conditions more broadly, and other diagnoses you have may qualify. See is asthma a qualifying condition and your state on the laws and regulations pages.
Will the doctor ask about my inhalers?
Yes, and they should. Expect questions about your controller and rescue inhalers, how often you need the rescue one, recent attacks and anyone who smokes at home. Bring the list from what to bring to the appointment.
Is an online evaluation legal?
Yes, where state law allows telemedicine for medical cannabis evaluations. The appointment is with a physician licensed in your state, one-on-one, and the recommendation is the same document an in-person visit would produce. See how the medical card works.
Can I go to a dispensary right after the recommendation?
In a few states the recommendation is enough; in most you first register with the state and wait for the card. Your state’s rules are on the laws and regulations pages.
When do my documents arrive?
If the physician approves, the signed recommendation can arrive in your account in as little as 15 minutes after the appointment, depending on your state. The state card follows on the state’s own timeline.
What if my card is lost?
Most states let you request a replacement from the program that issued it. The steps are in what to do if your card is lost and the medical card FAQ.
How do I renew my medical card?
Renewal is a repeat evaluation before your card expires, with your updated medicine list. Find your state in renewing your medical card.
More research on cannabis and asthma
This page cites a selection of studies. Our research library holds every study we track on cannabis and asthma, from laboratory work to clinical trials, and lets you filter them by cannabinoid, study type and year.
- studies
- 210+
- in people
- 90
- clinical trials
- 11
Other conditions people with asthma ask about
Asthma often travels with other diagnoses, and some of them are on more state lists. Each page below covers its own research and qualifying rules.
Stay rooted in the latest news
For background on how cannabis works in the body, and for new articles as research and state laws change:
For asthma itself, the most useful public resources are the GINA strategy report [3], the CDC asthma pages [1], the EPA guides to home triggers [13] and the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America [12].
References
31 sources
- 1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Asthma. 2026.
- 2. Is There a Place for Cannabinoids in Asthma Treatment? DOI: 10.3390/ijms26073328 PMID: 40244178
- 3. Global Initiative for Asthma. 2026 GINA Strategy Report. 2026.
- 4. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Expert Panel Report 3: Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Management of Asthma. 2007.
- 5. QualityMetric. Asthma Control Test. 2026.
- 6. CDC National Center for Health Statistics. ICD-10-CM. 2026.
- 7. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. 2020 Focused Updates to the Asthma Management Guidelines. 2020.
- 8. Loeys-Dietz Syndrome and Asthma: Pathophysiological Insights and Clinical Dilemmas. DOI: 10.1002/rcr2.70312 PMID: 40823123
- 9. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. How to Use a Metered-Dose Inhaler. 2021.
- 10. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Asthma Action Plan. 2020.
- 11. Medicinal herb use among asthmatic patients attending a specialty care facility in Trinidad. DOI: 10.1186/1472-6882-5-3 PMID: 15713232
- 12. Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America. Asthma & Allergy Friendly Certification Program. 2026.
- 13. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Asthma. 2026.
- 14. Secondhand smoke exposure and asthma status among adolescents: Findings from the 2019-2020 California Student Tobacco Survey. DOI: 10.1016/j.pmedr.2024.102842 PMID: 39185324
- 15. Expression of endocannabinoid system components in human airway epithelial cells: impact of sex and chronic respiratory disease status. DOI: 10.1183/23120541.00128-2020 PMID: 33344628
- 16. High-CBD Extract (CBD-X) in Asthma Management: Reducing Th2-Driven Cytokine Secretion and Neutrophil/Eosinophil Activity. DOI: 10.3390/ph17101382 PMID: 39459021
- 17. Cannabis consumption and risk of asthma: a systematic review and meta-analysis. DOI: 10.1186/s12890-025-03516-0 PMID: 39881272
- 18. The Effect of Cannabis Use Disorder on Mortality and Other Outcomes in Asthma: A Nationwide Analysis (2016-2021). DOI: 10.7759/cureus.94969 PMID: 41281008
- 19. Documented Nicotine, Cannabis, and Co-Use Are Associated With More Intensive Emergency Department Care for Adolescent Asthma Exacerbations. DOI: 10.1016/j.acepjo.2026.100453 PMID: 42404207
- 20. A longitudinal study of cannabis use increasing the use of asthma medication in young Norwegian adults. DOI: 10.1186/s12890-019-0814-x PMID: 30808319
- 21. Neuropsychiatric events associated with montelukast in patients with asthma: a systematic review. DOI: 10.1183/16000617.0079-2023 PMID: 37758273
- 22. Association between tobacco product use and asthma among US adults from the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) Study waves 2-4. DOI: 10.1136/bmjresp-2021-001187 PMID: 36750276
- 23. Work-Related Asthma in the Cannabis Industry: Findings From California, Massachusetts, Michigan, and Washington. DOI: 10.1097/JOM.0000000000003461 PMID: 40561210
- 24. E-cigarette Use Among Community-Recruited Adults with a History of Asthma in North Central Florida. DOI: 10.1007/s10900-023-01256-y PMID: 37458851
- 25. Associations for subgroups of E-cigarette, cigarette, and cannabis use with asthma in a population sample of California adolescents. DOI: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2023.107777 PMID: 37336095
- 26. State-specific Prevalence and Factors Associated With Current Marijuana, ENDS, and Cigarette use Among US Adults With Asthma. DOI: 10.1177/1179173X221105783 PMID: 35664420
- 27. E-Cigarette Use Associated With Asthma Independent of Cigarette Smoking and Marijuana in a 2017 National Sample of Adolescents. DOI: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2020.03.001 PMID: 32336559
- 28. E-cigarette use and asthma in a multiethnic sample of adolescents. DOI: 10.1016/j.ypmed.2017.09.023 PMID: 28964850
- 29. Fatal Occupational Asthma in Cannabis Production: Massachusetts, 2022. DOI: 10.15585/mmwr.mm7246a2 PMID: 37971937
- 30. Federal Register. Proposed revision of ATF Form 4473, Firearms Transaction Record. 2026.
- 31. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The HIPAA Privacy Rule. 2026.