Can cannabis cause heart attacks?

Current studies on cannabis have so far shown whether it can have a long-term impact on health, as in the case of memory, depression and schizophrenia.

A recent study presented by cardiologist Aditi Kalla and his team from the Einstein Medical Center of Philadelphia (Pennsylvania), at a meeting of the’American College of Cardiology in Washington DC suggests that cannabis consumption may present a risk to the heart.

The study focuses on over 20 million patients from 1,000 different hospitals. Of these 20 million, 316,000 patients reported using cannabis. According to the study, among patients who use, cannabis is linked to obesity, alcohol consumption and increased blood pressure, all of which can increase the risk of cardiovascular disease. They also state that «after research, cannabis use was independently associated with a 26% increased risk of stroke and a 10% increased risk of developing a heart attack».

«We need more research to understand the reasons for this effect,» said the cardiologist. Nevertheless, Paul Armentaro, Executive Director of NORML, the leading US association aiming to reform cannabis laws, countered that the increased cardiac risk is «relatively normal». In his view, the study is incomplete because people who use cannabis but not tobacco do not have a greater likelihood of cardiovascular disease than those who use nicotine only.

The study's final limitation is that it was based on people who had recently been hospitalized. The study therefore did not cover the general population.

In addition, a team of researchers from the Université Case Western Reserve of Cleveland (Ohio), led by Dr. Tarek Chami, compared the health records of over 210,000 cannabis smokers with ten million non-users. They note that users have higher blood pressure and are more likely to also consume alcohol, tobacco or develop diabetes, which increases the risk of having a heart attack. The minutes of the official ceremony of the study states that it does not distinguish between modes of administration and does not allow us to say whether smoked cannabis causes more of these side effects than ingested or vaporized cannabis.

«Cannabis legalization is gaining momentum in the U.S. and around the world, which means more cardiologists will be seeing patients with side effects. There has been little research to date on the effect of cannabis on the cardiovascular system. This is a first step that will lead to further studies,» reports Dr. Tarek Chami, for the Dailymail.

The risk of heart attack could be linked to cannabis, the way in which it is used, or the lifestyle habits of its users. Future research will be invaluable in this respect.

Mehdi Bautier