Medical Cannabis and the Blood Donation Question

The need for blood donations never seems to cease. Organizations like the Red Cross push to hold as many blood drives as they can. Meanwhile, hospitals and clinics are constantly looking to increase their stock of readily available blood. But can anyone give blood? More specifically, can medical cannabis users give?

The short answer is ‘yes’. Nothing in federal law prevents otherwise healthy medical cannabis users from donating blood. Still there are things to keep in mind. This post will cover them. But first, it is probably important to take a look at why blood donations are so important.

Real World Statistics

You may have never been directly impacted by a blood donation made by someone else. But based on the most recent data, don’t plan on that being the case for the rest of your life. Quite to the contrary, the chances are pretty good that you will be directly impacted at some point in your life.

If you’re not convinced, check out these statistics from America’s Blood Centers:

• 1 in 7 hospital patients requires a blood transfusion.
• 30k units of red blood are used by hospitals every day.
• 42k blood components are utilized by patients every day.
• Someone in the U.S. needs donated blood every 2 seconds.
• A single donation can help save more than one life.

It turns out that just 3% of the adult population donates blood in a given year. If we could bump that number up to 4%, most ongoing blood shortages would be alleviated.

The Medical Cannabis Issue

It’s not unusual for medical cannabis patients to ask whether or not they can donate blood. It is a reasonable question. After all, most of us are aware of the fact that THC metabolites can remain in the system for quite some time. Cannabis users fear that some amount of THC will remain in their blood long after they stop feeling the effects.

Another concern is federal law. The FDA regulates blood donations. At the current time the FDA operates under the constraints of the Controlled Substances Act, which lists cannabis as a Schedule I controlled substance. Nonetheless, the FDA does not prohibit cannabis users from donating blood.

The operators of the Beehive Farmacy in Salt Lake City, Utah explain that medical cannabis potency and delivery method are not issues to worry about either. Yes, potency can vary from one product to the next. It is also true that delivery methods can impact bio availability and medical cannabis effectiveness. But none of those things matter when it comes to donating blood.

What Does Matter

So what are the concerns, if there are any? According to the Red Cross, there are only two cannabis related issues to worry about. First, they say cannabis users should only donate blood when they are confident that they are not under the influence. They say that donors should not be experiencing any memory or cognitive impairment at the time they are donating.

The other concern rests with synthetic cannabinoids. Some synthetic products can contain ingredients that function as anticoagulants. Therefore, the Red Cross is reluctant to accept whole blood, platelets, or plasma from synthetic cannabinoid users.

Here is the long and short of it: using state-legal medical cannabis does not preclude you from donating blood. The red cross and other collection agents do not ask about cannabis use. They also do not test blood for THC. The only requirement for cannabis users is that they do not donate while they are under the influence. Other than that, they welcome blood donations from cannabis users with open arms.