Cannabis has the ability to impact your skin, but can weed cause acne? Research has found that smoking is harmful to the skin, but you would have to smoke a ton for it to cause a breakout. However, there are a few theories as to how ingesting weed might lead to the formation of acne.
Increased Stress
Does cannabis stress you out? If you’re a part of the select few cannabis consumers who become the opposite of chill after ingesting THC, your weed might be contributing to your acne. Cannabis can both relieve and cause anxiety or stress. THC in high doses is capable of inducing anxiety and stress for certain people. In lower doses, it can be therapeutic.
Researchers have found an association between stress and acne. So, weed making someone more stressed could also result in a skin breakout.
The solution is to find the right balance of CBD and THC. You should look for forms of cannabis high in CBD, especially if you’re the type of person who panics when high. CBD can counteract many of the psychoactive properties of THC, preventing any unnecessary stress and acne.
The Munchies
If you find yourself losing track of how much you ate while high, weed could be indirectly contributing to your acne. Ingesting sugar, or any food that rapidly converts to sugar, raises insulin levels. Eating pizza and chips? Using soda to cure your cotton mouth? You may be causing your insulin levels to spike.
Dr. Nicholas Perricone told the Huffington Post that a spike of insulin results in “a burst of inflammation throughout the body.”
Inflammation sends enzymes out to break down collagen and elastin which hold the skin firm. Digested sugar permanently attaches to the collagen in skin, causing the skin to go through a process called glycation. Glycation can make existing acne worse.
So, can weed cause acne? Not exactly. But it might influence you to do things that will lead to more acne.
Can Weed Cause Acne To Stop?
While smoking a blunt won’t do anything to prevent or treat acne, parts of the cannabis plant can be helpful.
There are cannabis topicals made from CBD that may help treat acne. CBD is an antioxidant, and antioxidants are known to be great for the skin.
You can get CBD from hemp seed oil, which contains other compounds that your skin will love. There is no short answer to the question, “can weed cause acne?” But at the very least, it doesn’t seem to be directly involved in the formation of acne. Overproduction of sebum can cause acne. Researchers discovered cannabis seed extract cream was able to reduce the amount of human cheek skin sebum. So, weed can actually cause acne to subside, but it has to be from the non-psychoactive portion of the plant.
