Not anymore.
Nearly half of recent patients are under the age of 54 and hospitalizations for heart-related conditions among those under 45 have surged, even as rates decline for older individuals.
What changed?
Researchers observed that all cannabis users—smokers or chewers—had about 50 percent less blood vessel function than nonusers.
According to Dr. Ron Blankstein, senior preventive cardiologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, one key factor is marijuana. “Many folks think it’s benign, but it’s probably not quite as benign as we think.”
No kidding. A major study just published in the journal Heart pooled data from 24 other studies conducted between 2016 and 2023, involving more than 200 million people. The findings were startling: marijuana users were twice as likely to die from heart disease, with a 29 percent higher risk of heart attack and a 20 percent higher risk of stroke than nonusers.
“What was particularly striking was that the concerned patients hospitalized for these disorders were young … with no history of cardiovascular disorder or cardiovascular risk factors,” said senior study author Émilie Jouanjus, a pharmacology professor at the University of Toulouse, France.
And the problem isn’t limited to those only smoking the pot. A separate study from UC San Francisco—published in JAMA Cardiology three weeks earlier than the Heart study—found that edible cannabis products like gummies pose the same threat. Researchers observed that all cannabis users—smokers or chewers—had about 50 percent less blood vessel function than nonusers. That kind of vascular impairment is directly linked to high blood pressure and a greater risk of heart attack.
The news comes at a time when marijuana consumption is at an all-time high, with 15 percent of adult Americans using the drug, and nearly half of all US states legalizing marijuana for recreational use.
According to Dr. Ersilia DeFilippis, a cardiologist at Columbia University Irving Medical Center, it has long been established that marijuana can raise blood pressure and heart rate as well as alter the heart’s rhythm—so it’s no surprise that cannabis use and cardiovascular risks are linked.
Dr. John Ryan, a cardiologist at the University of Utah Hospital, has personally seen heart attacks in otherwise healthy people who use marijuana regularly. He warned that many young people wouldn’t even know the signs of a heart attack or stroke, which can include chest pain and sudden weakness or numbness.
After all, why should they know these things? Heart attack, stroke, cardiovascular whatchamacallits—those just happen to geezers, right?
A 2001 study found that heart attack risk is highest in the hour after smoking marijuana.
Besides, “everybody knows that marijuana is natural, even ‘medicinal,’ or at least not really harmful.” So, no worries.
As a matter of fact, three out of five Americans agree with that statement, which means that three out of five Americans—if they’re using marijuana—won’t know what hit them if they find themselves with odd chest pains just when they were about to go for that job interview.
The perception clearly doesn’t match the science. Or the numbers.
And it’s not just long-term use that’s dangerous. A 2001 study found that heart attack risk is highest in the hour after smoking marijuana.
All the more reason to heed the warnings of health experts like Dr. Lynn Silver, senior adviser at the Public Health Institute, who says, “Clinicians need to screen people for cannabis use and educate them about its harms, the same way we do for tobacco.… Our regulatory system, which has been almost entirely focused on creating legal infrastructure and licensing legal, for-profit [cannabis] businesses, needs to focus much more strongly on health warnings that educate people about the real risks.”
What a smart idea—help people find out what they’re about to put in their bodies before they gamble their health and their life away. That’s precisely what the Foundation for a Drug-Free World’s Truth About Drugs initiative has helped some 1 billion people worldwide do: get the straight facts so they can make up their own minds.
Heart disease is still the world’s leading killer.
Why give it a hand by smoking pot?
