Put the munchies down, man … 

We all enjoy a case of the munchies every now and then, but scientists are looking into whether or not it might end up killing us. 

The research team at the University of Minnesota wanted to investigate three things: is there a link between marijuana use, prediabetes or the more damaging type 2 diabetes? Is being overweight or obese, based on body mass index (BMI)/weight, a factor to eliminate before the connection between marijuana and diabetes can be made? And given that there are race/gender and sex/race associations with prediabetes and type 2 diabetes, were these playing a part?

The study, conducted on more than 3,000 Americans, reported that regular cannabis users had a 65 percent greater chance of developing poor blood sugar control, while those who have used the drug more than a hundred times in their lifetimes had a 50 percent greater chance. While no biological link between prediabetes and marijuana use has been found, there is a suspicion that the disease is brought on by all that crap you eat when you're high, aka the munchies.

The research team had a few depressing words:

"Marijuana use was associated with the development and prevalence of prediabetes after adjustment. Specifically, occurrence of prediabetes in middle adulthood was significantly elevated for individuals who reported using marijuana in excess of 100 times by young adulthood.

Future studies should look to objectively measure mode and quantity of marijuana use in relation to prospective metabolic health."

So if you're gonna burn one down, don't forget to burn off the extra calories later. 

Pro-weed advocates were quick to defend the bud. "The interpretation of this awful research is both dangerous and unethical to the point where even the NHS themselves have published an immediate rebuttal. Diabetes' own website refers to the potential benefits of cannabis to those suffering from diabetes and GW Pharmaceuticals are currently doing research on the efficacy of cannabinoids with some great results so far," says John Liebling, head of United Patients Alliance—a cannabis advocacy group that launched its UK branch last year.

To lighten the mood a little, here's a remix of Wilford threatening to kill and eat his family: