by Seroll Burt
March 20, 2025
Even with great health, smokers were also four times likely to have a stroke and three times as likely to die from a cardiac event.
A study from the American College of Cardiology (ACC) reveals that some “young, healthy adults” who smoke marijuana are six times more at risk of having a heart attackFox News reports.
Two new studies highlight how cannabis use can be linked to cardiac events. With one study including over 4.6 million participants, people who are younger than 50 years old and labeled as “young, healthy adults” are six times more likely to have a heart attack compared to people who don’t smoke marijuana. All study participants showed no previous heart conditions, never used tobacco products, had good blood pressure and cholesterol levels, and no history of diabetes.
Even with great health, smokers were also four times likely to have a stroke in addition to being twice as likely to experience heart failure and three times as likely to die from a cardiac event.
While the studies failed to pinpoint exactly how marijuana compromises heart health, researchers did show some of the possibilities, such as affecting “heart rhythm regulation, heightening oxygen demand in the heart muscle, and contributing to endothelial dysfunction, which makes it harder for the blood vessels to relax and expand, and can interrupt blood flow,” the study said.
Lead author and clinical instructor at the Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine and internal medicine resident at St. Elizabeth Medical Center Ibrahim Kamel, MD, said more medical professionals should ask about cannabis usage in the same way they ask about cigarette usage. “Asking about cannabis use should be part of clinicians’ workup to understand patients’ overall cardiovascular risk, similar to asking about smoking cigarettes,” Kamel said.
“At a policy level, a fair warning should be made so that the people who are consuming cannabis know that there are risks.”
As lawmakers makers are proposing marijuana to be declared legal in some states, neuroscientist Yasmin Hurd feels the medical field is lacking in understanding how marijuana is rapidly changing. In another report published by the New York Times, states have laid out inconsistent standards and other regulations. Where the substance is legal, only two states have placed a cap on the intoxicating component of the plant known as THC.
Hurd says labeling the drug as all the way safe is wrong. “Until we do research on the drastically transformed cannabis in all its forms, I think putting them under the umbrella of a safe, legal drug is wrong,” she said.
“It’s misleading at best and dangerous at worst.”
Kamel wants marijuana users to be more forthcoming with their doctors about their usage and wants people to “remember that we are their No. 1 advocate and having the full story matters.”
Researchers called for additional studies to confirm the findings and identify the highest-risk groups.
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