Although marijuana use has become legal in some regions of the U.S., researchers say even young people should think twice before taking a hit.
Why? According to a study published Tuesday in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, recent cannabis could make a myocardial infarction (heart attack) twice as likely in young adults aged 18 to 44.
“Increasing cannabis use in an at-risk population could have negative implications for cardiovascular health,” said the study.
Data from 33,173 young adults pooled from the 2017 and 2018 cohorts of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System survey of US adults was used for the study. Of the group. 4,610 reported using cannabis at least one time in the previous 30 days.
A history of myocardial infarction was more frequently observed in these recent cannabis users at 1.3 percent compared to nonusers at 0.8 percent. It was also associated with cannabis use more than four times per month and with smoking as a primary method of consuming cannabis. Males, unmarried respondents, combustible cigarette users, e-cigarette users and heavy alcohol drinkers were more likely to report recent cannabis use.
“The association between recent cannabis use and [myocardial infarction] was similar in magnitude to associations with [myocardial infarction] observed for current tobacco smoking,” the study said.
Higher odds of history of heart attack were also observed with vaporization and edibles as a primary method of cannabis consumption when compared with nonusers, said researchers. However, they said those odds “were not statistically significant.”
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According to the study, cannabis is one of the most commonly used recreational drugs. Since cannabis has been decriminalized in certain U.S.
jurisdictions, use has been increasing, particularly among the age 18-44 population segment. Researchers wanted to explore how increased use could impact cardiovascular health.
Last August, the American Heart Association said “chemicals in cannabis have been linked to an increased risk of heart attacks, heart failure and atrial fibrillation in observational studies; however, a full understanding of how use of cannabis affects the heart and blood vessels is limited by a lack of adequate research.”
At the time, studies indicated an increased risk of heart attack for cannabis users under age 50 and for stroke in users age 18 to 44, said the association.
Researchers who published the recent study said the connection between heart attacks and cannabis use should be explored more in the future.
“Further studies and more data are needed to confirm these findings and elucidate the mechanisms contributing to cannabis-associated cardiovascular outcomes,” said they said.
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