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Cannabis and Secondhand Smoke

Key points

  • Secondhand cannabis smoke contains many of the same toxic and cancer-causing chemicals found in tobacco smoke and some in higher amounts.
  • Secondhand cannabis smoke also contains tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the compound responsible for most of cannabis's psychoactive effects (or the "high").

Exposure to cannabis smoke

The known risks of secondhand exposure to tobacco smoke—including risks to the heart and lungs1—raise questions about whether secondhand exposure to cannabis smoke causes similar health risks. Secondhand cannabis smoke contains many of the same toxic and cancer-causing chemicals found in tobacco smoke and some in higher amounts.2

Secondhand cannabis smoke also contains tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the compound responsible for most of cannabis's psychoactive effects (or the "high"). THC can be passed to infants and children through secondhand smoke, and people exposed to secondhand cannabis smoke can experience psychoactive effects, such as feeling high.34 Recent studies have found strong associations between reports of having someone in the home who uses cannabis (e.g., a parent, relative, or caretaker) and the child having detectable levels of THC.5 Children exposed to THC are potentially at risk for negative health effects. More research is needed to understand how secondhand cannabis exposure may affect children. Other research shows that cannabis use during adolescence can impact the developing teenage brain and cause problems with attention, motivation, and memory.6 To learn more about the long-term effects of cannabis use, please visit the health effects section.

More research about the effects of cannabis secondhand smoke is still needed.

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Content Source:
National Center for Injury Prevention and Control
  1. Alberg AJ, Shopland DR, Cummings KM. The 2014 Surgeon General's report: commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the 1964 Report of the Advisory Committee to the US Surgeon General and updating the evidence on the health consequences of cigarette smoking. Am J Epidemiol. 2014;179(4):403-412. doi: 10.1093/aje/kwt335.
  2. Moir D, Rickert WS, Levasseur G, et al. A comparison of mainstream and sidestream marijuana and tobacco cigarette smoke produced under two machine smoking conditions. Chem Res Toxicol. 2008;21(2):494-502. doi: 10.1021/tx700275p.
  3. Wilson KM, Torok MR, Wei B, et al. Detecting biomarkers of secondhand marijuana smoke in young children. Pediatr Res. 2017;81(4):589-592. doi: 10.1038/pr.2016.261.
  4. Cone EJ, Bigelow GE, Herrmann ES, et al. Nonsmoker exposure to secondhand cannabis smoke. III. Oral fluid and blood drug concentrations and corresponding subjective effects. J Anal Toxicol. 2015;39:497–509. doi: 10.1093/jat/bkv070.
  5. Moore C, Coulter C, Uges D, et al. Cannabinoids in oral fluid following passive exposure to marijuana smoke. Forensic Sci Int. 2011;212(1-3):227-230. doi: 10.1016/j.forsciint.2011.06.019.
  6. Broyd SJ, van Hell HH, Beale C, et al. Acute and chronic effects of cannabinoids on human cognition—a systematic review. Biol Psychiatry. 2016;79(7):557-567. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2015.12.002.