Researchers ID genes that could make you more likely to try cannabis

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Laws regarding marijuana use are changing even as scientists are still trying to understand why people use it and the overall effects of using it. Now, a study is wading in by examining how genetics influences people's tendency to try pot. But the study raises nearly as many questions as it answers, and the overall effect of genes appears to be extremely small.

Genes and weed

This isn't the first study to look at marijuana use, but the history here is a bit murky. Many of the past studies are small, and they've looked at different things: some at whether a person has ever tried the drug and others at factors that influence whether a person becomes a heavy user. Still, twin studies have indicated that genetics plays a large role in determining whether someone is likely to try the drug at some point in their lives.

The new work is largely a follow-up on that, involving a search for the specific genetic factors that influence what's termed "lifetime use"-the decision to try pot at least once in someone's life. The researchers behind it are a mix of 23andMe staff and members of the International Cannabis Consortium (which is less interesting than it sounds). Both groups focus on scanning the entire genome for variations linked to specific traits. For this, they combined 23andMe data with several public genetics resources that have asked their participants about cannabis use. Combined, these data sources included about 185,000 individuals, making this the largest study of its kind.

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