Cannabis users are up to a THIRD more likely to develop heart disease, large study warns
According to a large study, people who use cannabis are up to a third more likely to have a heart attack.
The research is another blow to the idea that marijuana is safe because it’s “natural” — a common claim made by users of the drug.
Experts from Stanford University studied the rates of coronary artery disease (CAD) and cannabis use in 175,000 people in the United States.
The more someone used cannabis, the more likely they were to be diagnosed with the condition, with daily users having a 34 percent higher risk than non-users.
dr Ishan Paranjpe, MD at Stanford and lead author of the study, said: ‘In terms of the public health message, it shows that there are likely certain harms of cannabis use that have not been previously recognized and people should take that into account.’
According to a large study, people who use cannabis are up to a third more likely to have a heart attack
The above shows cannabis use across American states. Twenty-one states and DC have legalized it for recreational use in addition to medicinal use, while nearly all now allow medicinal use.
The significant association remained regardless of whether users smoked tobacco, drank alcohol, had major cardiovascular risk factors, and regardless of age and gender.
Whether users ingested cannabis through smoking the drug, eating edibles, or other methods also made no difference.
According to the researchers, the study is one of the largest to date looking at the stress the drug puts on the heart.
THC binds to cannabinoid receptors in the brain, as well as organs and muscle tissue, including the heart and blood vessels. Although previous studies have reported somewhat mixed results on the relationship between cannabis and heart disease.
CAD is the most common form of cardiovascular disease that can lead to heart failure. It killed more than 382,000 Americans in 2020. And according to federal data, about 20.1 million Americans age 20 and older have CAD.
It is typically caused by a buildup of cholesterol in the lining of the coronary arteries, which forms plaque that narrows the blood vessels and blocks the flow of oxygen-rich blood to the heart.
The Stanford researchers postulated that blood vessels interacting with tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the chemical compound in cannabis that gets you high, could cause inflammation in the vessels and allow plaque to form, which could eventually cause CAD.
As marijuana’s popularity increases and the legal landscape changes — 21 states have legalized adult recreational use — physicians are still investigating the long-term physical and emotional health effects of smoking on the body.