Cannabis and Cardiovascular Risk
A March 2024 study in the Journal of the American Heart Association linked cannabis use to elevated risk of heart attack and stroke, including in adults under 50 with no traditional cardiac risk factors. The association held after adjusting for tobacco, alcohol, and other lifestyle confounders. Daily users showed the strongest signal.
The proposed mechanisms are well-understood: cannabis acutely raises heart rate, can transiently spike blood pressure, and — when smoked — exposes the cardiovascular system to combustion byproducts similar in profile to cigarette smoke. Edibles avoid the smoke pathway but still produce the cardiac stimulation.
This page is a draft. The full writeup will cover the absolute-risk numbers, the route-of-administration breakdown (smoking vs vaping vs edibles), and what the data says for occasional vs daily users.