Marijuana users are up to twice as likely to have a stroke, heart attack, or die from heart disease, research has revealed.
University of California scientists found there was a 29 per cent higher risk of conditions like heart attack, a 20 per cent higher risk for stroke and double the risk of dying from heart disease among cannabis users.
The study, published in Heart, reviewed 24 studies involving 200 million people to investigate the relationship between the drug and the diseases.
The researchers warned that the study “raises serious questions about the assumption that cannabis imposes little cardiovascular risk”.
The reviewed studies, which ranged from 2016 to 2023, included people aged between 19 and 59 years old.
The research did not specify if the marijuana exposure was from smoking the drug or other forms of consumption.
In 2023, the American College of Cardiology revealed that people who smoke marijuana or eat weed-laced edibles daily are a third more likely to develop coronary artery disease (CAD).
CAD is the most common form of heart disease – cholesterol narrows the arteries supplying blood to the organ, causing chest pain, shortness of breath and fatigue.
The significant link remained regardless of whether users smoked tobacco, drank alcohol, had major cardiovascular risk factors, and no matter their age or sex.
Whether users took cannabis by smoking the drug, eating edibles, or other methods also made no difference.
The American College of Cardiology researchers said people should let their doctors know if they use the drug, so clinicians can start monitoring heart health.
Dr Ishan Paranjpe, resident physician at Stanford University and the study’s lead author, said: “We found that cannabis use is linked to CAD, and there seems to be a dose-response relationship in that more frequent cannabis use is associated with a higher risk of CAD.
“In terms of the public health message, it shows that there are probably certain harms of cannabis use that weren’t recognised before, and people should take that into account.
“From a scientific standpoint, these findings are exciting because they suggest there might be new drug targets and mechanisms we can explore to take control of this pathway going forward.”
