An increasing number of studies are showing that marijuana may not be so harmless after all.
In two new studies, to be presented later this month at the American Heart Association (AHA) Scientific Sessions 2023, researchers found that regular marijuana use increased the risk of heart attack, stroke or heart failure — even after factors like type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and obesity were taken into account.
“Prior research shows links between marijuana use and cardiovascular disease like coronary artery disease, heart failure and atrial fibrillation, which is known to cause heart failure,” lead study author Yakubu Bene-Alhasan, M.D., MPH, a resident physician at Medstar Health in Baltimore, said in a statement. “Marijuana use isn’t without its health concerns, and our study provides more data linking its use to cardiovascular conditions.”
No surprise there. My first thought was that this was more correlation than causation - people who take cannabis are more likely to do a range of things that cause heart problems. But you may be onto something with smoking. Smoking breaks things down into all sorts of nasty carbon particulates.
Not that this rules out cannabis damage to the heart or brain, mind, but the phrase “more study is needed” cannot be emphasised enough.