Marijuana enhances appetite, and medications based on its main psychoactive ingredient, tetrahydrocannabanol (THC), have been used to improve appetite and restore body weight in patients with AIDS-related wasting (Wilkins, 2006). Cocaine suppresses appetite, and there is evidence that desire for weight control motivates many cocaine users, particularly women (Cochrane, Malcolm, & Brewerton, 1998). Although this study did not examine drug effects on appetite, marijuana and cocaine use disorders are not related to body weight in this large epidemiologic sample.
