Marijuana Users Have a Major New Problem

This article originally appeared on The Epoch Times and was republished with permission.

Guest post by George Citroner

Lighting up a joint once or more a week? That puff of marijuana could be seriously hurting your heart.

A new study finds that even relatively infrequent cannabis use is linked to higher risks of having a heart attack or stroke—and the more you smoke, the more danger you’re in.

The large-scale research presents some of the most damning evidence yet about marijuana’s impact on cardiovascular health.

Marijuana Smoking as Risky as Tobacco for Heart Health

Using cannabis is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular diseases, even among nontobacco smokers, according to a new study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association. Previous research had linked marijuana use to heart disease risk, but those findings were often dismissed because many participants also smoked tobacco, which has long been linked to various cardiovascular issues.

In the new study, researchers analyzed data from over 434,000 patients aged 18 to 74, collected between 2016 and 2020 from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey.

About 75 percent of the study participants said smoking was the most common way they consumed marijuana, but they also reported using edibles and vaping. However, the researchers did not specifically compare the risks of smoking marijuana versus consuming edibles.

25 Percent Higher Heart Attack Risk, 42 Percent Greater Stroke Risk

The study found that compared to those who never used marijuana, daily cannabis smokers had a 25 percent increased likelihood of heart attack and a 42 percent greater risk of experiencing strokes.

Among adults at risk for premature cardiovascular disease (defined as men under 55 and women under 65), cannabis use was significantly associated with nearly 40 percent higher combined odds of coronary heart disease, heart attack, and stroke, regardless of whether they used traditional tobacco products or not.

The researchers conducted a separate analysis of a smaller subgroup of adults who never smoked tobacco or used nicotine e-cigarettes and still found a significant association between cannabis use and an increased combined risk of developing coronary heart disease, including heart attack and stroke.

“Cannabis smoke is not all that different from tobacco smoke, except for the psychoactive drug: THC vs. nicotine,” Abra Jeffers, a data analyst at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston and lead study author, said in a press statement.

The study shows smoking cannabis has significant cardiovascular risks, just like smoking tobacco, she noted. “This is particularly important because cannabis use is increasing, and conventional tobacco use is decreasing.”

Notably, participants who reported using marijuana only once per week still showed about a 3 percent increased likelihood of having a heart attack or stroke during the study period. However, the study was not designed to establish whether marijuana use directly caused this increase in risk.

Read the full story in The Epoch Times.