Social media bots are promoting cannabis as a remedy for everything from cancer to insomnia and foot pain, according to an analysis of posts on Twitter.

Axar.az reports citing Reuters.

“Social bots regularly perpetuate unsubstantiated health claims on the platform, providing one example of how false statements may drown out solid science on social media,” said lead study author Jon-Patrick Allem of the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.

“I want the public to be aware of the difference between a demonstrated, scientifically-backed piece of health information and claims that are simply made up,” Allem said by email. “Currently, cannabis is only approved for medical use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in a small number of instances, including to help with chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting, with appetite stimulation in conditions like AIDS or HIV that cause weight loss, and with the management of two forms of pediatric epilepsy.”