A large, multi-institutional study of over 4,200 veterans with coronary artery disease (CAD) found no association between recent cannabis use and increased risk of heart attack, stroke, or cardiovascular-related death.
Published in the journal Circulation, the study followed participants between the ages of 66 and 68 for an average of 3.3 years. Of the total cohort, 1,015 veterans reported smoking cannabis in the previous 30 days. Researchers tracked outcomes including acute myocardial infarction, stroke, and cardiovascular death, comparing users and non-users of cannabis through a comprehensive set of statistical models.
The results showed that past-month cannabis smoking was not associated with a higher risk of cardiovascular events (adjusted hazard ratio 0.87; 95% CI, 0.61–1.24). Similar findings held for those who vaped or consumed edibles, and there was also no increased risk of all-cause mortality among cannabis users.
While users generally had lower socioeconomic status and more adverse health behaviors, they also had fewer comorbidities like hypertension and heart failure. The study’s authors acknowledged that the high prevalence of tobacco use among participants may have made it harder to isolate the cardiovascular impact of cannabis alone.
Still, the findings challenge assumptions drawn from earlier cross-sectional and retrospective analyses that suggested a cardiovascular risk. The authors concluded that cannabis does not appear to be a major contributor to cardiovascular events in this specific high-risk population, though further studies are needed in broader, tobacco-free populations.
The study was conducted by researchers from the University of California, the Northern California Institute for Research and Education, the University of Toronto, and the Indiana University School of Medicine.
More articles from The Marijuana Herald can be found below.
