Can You Smoke Weed With Your Dog? You Sure Can

Scott Maguire shows me his phone wallpaper by shoving his phone toward his webcam. “I am not with my children. My wife is not with me,” he declares. “My dog is with me.”

A Cavalier King Charles spaniel named Bozy nearly didn’t live a year. When the puppy was just 9 months old in 2018, his cancer was discovered. Maguire believes that because weed allegedly saved Bozy’s life, the rapper motivated him to postpone retirement and found the medical cannabis startup Wellford Medical in the United Kingdom.

I understand if you think this origin narrative is a little too ideal. I also felt that way. However, as I started researching cannabidiol for dogs, Bozy’s tale started to make sense. Maguire claims that Bozy’s veterinarian stated that because of his extreme weakness from lack of appetite, treatment with steroids or chemotherapy would kill him right away. According to the veterinarian, Bozy would starve to death if he wasn’t put down.

Maguire, who has started several healthcare businesses, was aware that cannabis could aid with eating for cancer patients. Thus, in a desperate attempt to save face, Maguire went to a nearby ski instructor in Switzerland and purchased some marijuana. He cupped his hands around the dog’s snout and released the smoke into them. Maguire said that Bozy could eat a bit now. Eventually, he was able to “administer” cannabis dozens of times a day to get Bozy healthy enough for therapy.

And don’t worry—six years later, Bozy is still alive.

I was shocked to hear that Maguire offered Bozy marijuana on the street, which contains THC, the plant’s psychotropic ingredient. You’ve undoubtedly heard about CBD for dogs if you own a dog. The second-largest ingredient in cannabis, CBD is promoted as a herbal supplement to treat pain, anxiety, and sleeplessness. It is thought to be nonpsychoactive. After the Farm Bill legalized cannabis products with less than 0.3 percent delta-9 THC in 2018, CBD products for pets and people became easily accessible. Since then, we’ve been told that while THC isn’t a good idea for dogs, CBD is okay.

This lesson is repeated each time a dog eats a marijuana-infused chocolate bar. However, if a dog inadvertently consumes too much cannabis edibles, they most likely consumed enough to make a human throw up. I was informed by Trina Hazzah, president and co-founder of the Veterinary Cannabis Society, that many edibles have other substances, including as chocolate and xylitol, that are harmful to dogs. In her professional practice, which includes serving as an advisor to the Los Angeles Zoo, Hazzah has discovered that giving cannabinoids—including THC—to animals in a cautious, responsible manner can literally save their lives.

Hazzah started her work as a veterinary oncologist, using traditional techniques such as immunotherapy, radiation, and chemotherapy to treat cancer in animals. She says, “I came to the realization that I simply wasn’t doing enough for my patients.” Her interest in cannabis came from her studies of herbal medicine.

A Jack Russell terrier diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma, a tumor-producing form of skin cancer, was her first cannabis patient. His owners wanted to use cannabis to treat him, so they looked into the best products and tried it out.

“Hey, I think [the tumors are] getting better,” they wrote me two weeks later. And I said to myself, “No way.” The dog’s tumors were actually getting smaller. In order to help pet owners with medical cannabis, Hazzah created Green Nile in 2019. She has seen that, for a small percentage of her cancer patients—roughly 15 to 20 percent—cannabis either shrinks or stabilizes the growth of tumors.

To be clear, it is impossible to determine with certainty whether the tumor shrinkage was caused by the cannabis without conducting clinical tests. However, a review report published in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences in 2020 states that numerous research have demonstrated the ability of cannabis to drastically decrease cancer tumors in mice. Research on its potential to do so in humans and dogs is still pending. However, it is also generally known that cannabis can aid people with anorexia and nausea, two symptoms of cancer.

Hazzah herself says cannabis can be helpful when combined with other treatments, such as chemotherapy, but she does not advise using it as a stand-alone cancer treatment because it is simply not as successful as more conventional medical approaches.

The effects of THC on dogs are still not fully understood by scientists. CBD is the main topic of medical cannabis research for dogs, most likely because it is the more easily regulated substance. However, a few recent research have examined THC. A 2024 case study that was published in Veterinary Pharmacology and Toxicology discovered that one dog’s lupus symptoms were alleviated by combining THC and CBD. Dogs can safely ingest THC in extremely little dosages, according to a few tiny, recent studies that looked into the matter. Negative side effects included greater sensitivity to noise but not real intoxication, according to one study published in the same journal.

Hazzah claims to have observed THC make dogs paranoid. How does a dog exhibit paranoia? Hazzah refers to it as “fly biting,” or biting at fictitious insects in the air.

According to Hazzah, it’s critical to exercise caution while purchasing anything for your dog. She advises pet owners on what to look for instead of legally prescribing cannabis products. First and first, it’s crucial to find a thorough and current certificate of analysis. Official certificates known as COAs are provided by independent testing facilities that examine the potency and composition of certain cannabis product batches, as well as their potential for toxicity (such as heavy metals). Although COAs are not included in every cannabis product, Hazzah advises staying away from those that are.

“To me, it doesn’t make sense if a company isn’t going to be transparent about the contaminants and potencies that are in their product,” the woman said. “Why use something that you are unsure of?”

I needed to know if she believed that giving a healthy dog a small amount of marijuana for fun is acceptable. However, Hazzah claims there’s no justification for that advice. She thinks there’s no need to introduce anything that can have negative consequences if your dog is happy and healthy, even though she uses cannabis to treat depression and anxiety in pets. Unfortunately, from what I’ve researched, there doesn’t seem to be a trustworthy canine counterpart for catnip; nevertheless, anise may be an option.

Medical research on cannabis will continue to uncover its true potential as prohibitions against it loosen globally. Perhaps more canines will be given the same opportunity to live long and healthy lives as Bozy.