Any use of marijuana linked to higher risk of heart attack and stroke, study says

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Smoking, vaping or eating marijuana is linked to a significantly higher risk of heart attack and stroke, even if a person had no existing heart conditions and did not smoke or vape tobacco, a new study found.

While both daily and non-daily users had an increased risk of heart attack and stroke compared to nonusers, stroke risk rose 42% and the risk of heart attack rose 25% if cannabis was used daily, the study found. The risk climbed as the number of days of use of marijuana rose.

“Cannabis smoke is not all that different from tobacco smoke, except for the psychoactive drug: THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) vs. nicotine,” said lead study author Abra Jeffers, a data analyst at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston who researches tobacco and smoking cessation.

“Our study shows that smoking cannabis has significant cardiovascular risks, just like smoking tobacco. This is particularly important because cannabis use is increasing, and conventional tobacco use is decreasing,” Jeffers said in a statement.

The study’s findings mirror other research that has found daily use of marijuana is linked to an increase in coronary heart disease, heart attack and stroke, said Robert Page II, a professor of clinical pharmacy and physical medicine at the University of Colorado Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences in Aurora, Colorado.

“The findings of this study have very important implications for population health and should be a call to action for all practitioners, as this study adds to the growing literature that cannabis use and cardiovascular disease may be a potentially hazardous combination,” Page said in a statement

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