Heavy pot smokers may need higher sedation dosage

People who regularly use cannabis may require more than two times the usual level of sedation when undergoing medical procedures, warns a new study.

"Some of the sedative medications have dose-dependent side effects, meaning the higher the dose, the greater likelihood for problems," said lead researcher Mark Twardowski from Western Medical Associates in Colorado, US.

For the study, the researchers in Colorado examined the medical records of 250 patients who received endoscopic procedures after 2012, when the state legalised recreational cannabis.

Patients who smoked or ingested cannabis on a daily or weekly basis required 14 per cent more fentanyl, 20 per cent more midazolam, and 220 per cent more propofol to achieve optimum sedation for routine procedures, including colonoscopy, showed the findings published in The Journal of the American Osteopathic

Association.