CANNABIS use doesn’t just change your brain, it can also affect how you walk, an Australian study has claimed.

Research from the University of South Australia, published in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence, found those who smoke cannabis tend to move their shoulders less and elbows more as they walk.

The pilot study also found pot users swing their knees more quickly when walking than non-users.

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“The main take away message is that use of cannabis can result in subtle changes in the way that you move,” Verity Pearson-Dennett, the study’s corresponding author, told PsyPost.

“The changes in walking were small enough that a neurologist specialising in movement disorders was not able to detect changes in all of the cannabis users.

“However, many of the participants in the cannabis group were moderate-to-light cannabis users, therefore heavier cannabis users may have greater impairments.”

media_camera Cannabis use can change how you walk, Australian researchers have found. Picture: AFP/Alfredo Estrella

The researchers compared 22 cannabis users to 22 non-drug using Australians. The cannabis users had consumed the drug more than five times and had no history of illicit stimulant or opioid use.

Illicit drugs work by changing the levels of neurotransmitters in the “pleasure centre”’ of the brain, which are also important in movement, the researchers said, adding that more analysis was needed.

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“This was a small pilot study, therefore a number of questions need to be addressed,” Miss Pearson-Dennett said.

“For example, does a greater amount of cannabis use mean a greater level of impairment? Does the strain or THC/CBD content of the cannabis used change the level of impairment observed? In addition, the physiological mechanisms that underpin changes in movement are not well understood.”

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