Cannabis users face substantially higher risk of heart attack (2025)

RickJWagner

It’s starting to look like THC ( found in gummies, too ) causes vascular problems.

embedding-shape

> researchers were unable to account for several potential confounding factors including the duration and amount of cannabis use or the use of tobacco or other drugs. Personally I'd wager a bet it's the tobacco and/or smoking that is the harmful part, but it kind of dumbfounds me they failed to account for "details" like "duration and amount of cannabis use", that feels like a very vital thing to control for. Nothing is good for you in too great amounts, even water, so not taking that into account seems to not really give reliable and trustworthy results.

yieldcrv

I’m annoyed by the bifurcated regulatory regime Substances approved by the FDA are done based on specific treatments, with multiple trials and approval per use case Substances declared scheduled are illegal by the substance itself, instead of per use case paradoxically because there is no FDA approved use case and almost no way to get one meaning that places in the US that diverge in legality and are ignored by the federal government have done so without any clinical trial, which would be some level of peer reviewed objective information by use case instead of the whole substance we can’t even get a simple list of side effects, or a disclaimer about what kind of users shouldn’t use it only anecdotes that annoys me and it’s not just about weed

gchamonlive

Would be nice to know how much of a role a sedentary lifestyle plays in it or if it puts everyone at risk regardless of other habits. Maybe this just means you need to do cardio several times a week to keep using THC.

sandcat_

Not really related, but the other thing I found out recently that cannabis can cause is the worst panic attack I have ever experienced: a DPDR (derealization / depersonalization) panic attack. I’ve had regular panic attacks before. I get one a year, roughly, where I get essentially heart attack symptoms. But this was something else. It felt like something was truly, irrevocably broken with my mind and I couldn’t even describe what. Utterly terrifying. I was a heavy user but dropped it the next day.

dvduval

For me, cannabis causes anxiety, and it’s pretty well established that anybody with anxiety or bipolar or schizophrenia should not be using cannabis because it can make these much worse. I don’t suffer anxiety anymore, but there’s plenty of scientific evidence about the relationship between anxiety and cannabis use.

IAmGraydon

Literally no mention of ROA. It matters whether they smoke plant matter, vape, use it orally, etc. This, combined with their inability to account for a number of other factors such as tobacco use, makes this study literally useless. Earned a flag from me.

ear7h

Some commenters here talking about anxiety, but I think the bigger cause, which many people don't know, is that THC significantly increases your heart rate despite it's usual characterization as a depressant. If I recall correctly (big "if" considering the circumstances hah) my heart rate after smoking would go up by 10-20 BPM (from 65-70 to 80-90) while still feeling relaxed; ~~finding some numbers on this from a reputable source is difficult right now and this symptom is suspiciously missing from the wikipedia page~~. Edit: Realized this comment sounds like fear mongering, so decided to dig up some actual sources. The wiki page I needed to find was: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effects_of_cannabis Also, the CDC page mentions it: https://www.cdc.gov/cannabis/health-effects/heart-health.htm... And links to this paper (though I can't read past the abstract bc no institutional access): https://doi.org/10.1002/j.1552-4604.2002.tb06005.x

ck2

people just want their recreational drugs it's as stupid as smoking/vaping and not even black box warnings will get people to stop now if you need pain management I can respect that 100% but you need to investigate Palmitoylethanolamide and Geraniol as alternatives * https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48700498

teekert

I wonder about all the confounding effects. In my country (famous for cannabis to be easy to come by (for decades already), and I saw many smoke from age 16 up as I grew up in 90's, 00's). I have always felt that the heavy cannabis smokers had something to compensate; stress, unrest, impending depression, friction with parents. It was never the healthy sporty types with fulfilling relationships, good grades or a nice career that smoke cannabis heavily (like daily). Sure, some of those smoked, but more occasionally.

khalic

Without a clear mechanism of action, this sure requires monitoring (like any drug), but the conclusions are terribly oversold. Correlation does not imply causation, no matter the sample size

kovacs_x

6x sounds too clickbaity. but sure, still lets make to account by other "legal" substances (alco, tobacco, cocaine, pharmaceutics and other "lifestyle choices" infecting cardiovascular system) and way they are consumed(smoked, ingested, pure or with say tobacco) would love see data for a group who consumes cannabis by ingestion and especially not via smoking! also- do they differ different thc/cbd grades used (high/low thc, "medical")? im regards "research demonstrates something does this.." for many years alcohol was considered "healthier" over non consumption, just becauses non-drinkers were together with those of abstinent ex-alcholics.. thus average score was lower than for those who drunk minimal amounts and were considered "healthier".

Scroll_Swe

Good. This crap has been to normalized, especially online.

shevy-java

What I find fascinating is how smokers rationalize their behaviour, e. g. "weed is harmless". When they compare it to fentanyl or heroine/cocaine, but compounds are never intrinsically harmless. But you can not get that message across most folks who are smoking weed. It's a somewhat similar issue, to some extent, when you look at sumo wrestlers. These have a significantly lower life expectancy on average than the rest of the society in Japan, but the sumo association does not acknowledge that. It's really strange how the human mind operates.

fuzzfactor

From what I've seen it's faced with a more stony resolve compared to side-effects of many USP substances.

cynicalsecurity

Just a few years ago cannabis was presented online as a miracle drug that could cure all physical and psychological diseases. Any criticism of the sacred cannabis was strictly forbidden and dissenters were burned alive in the figurative fire of social media. Interesting how times are changing.

beezle

for the anxiety crowd: don't buy street weed and avoid sativas about the 'study': I do not trust anything that comes out of meta studies given how many base studies are found to be either garbage or very lacking in controls. And without knowing an accurate life history it is hard to rule out or quantify damages done much earlier in life.

warumdarum

He who attacks the munchies..

SoftTalker

Is there something that can help a habitual cannabis user stop? GLP1s maybe?

bsenftner

Come on people, it is a drug. Exercise, cardio, eat well, sleep well, it's your choice the risks you take, but try to balance the good with the bad, if you partake in "bad".