By Louise Esola

Marijuana users are no more likely to suffer injuries on the job than their coworkers who abstain, according to a study published in the May issue of the medical journal Substance Use and Abuse and conducted by researchers at the University of British Columbia.

For the study researchers examined potential links between cannabis use and occupational injury by appraising “all available current literature” from five databases, which led to a review of 16 studies, according to an abstract.

Most of the studies showed no evidence of a “significant relation” between marijuana use and injuries on the job. Seven  of the 16 reviewed studies “show evidence supporting a positive association between cannabis use and occupational injury” and one “shows evidence supporting a negative association.”

“The current body of evidence does not provide sufficient evidence to support the position that cannabis users are at increased risk of occupational injury,” the researchers wrote. “Further, the study quality assessment suggests significant biases in the extant literature are present due to potential confounding variables, selection of participants, and measurement of exposures and outcomes.”