What heart patients should know about smoking marijuana

After smoking marijuana, users often describe the effect as calming or relaxing. It puts you in a calmer mood and allows your brain to switch off for a while. But the same cannot be said about the heart. Although more than two million Americans with heart disease admit to using marijuana, the cardiovascular risks associated with cannabis use are not fully understood, new research says.

The paper, published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, is a review of previous studies that examined the connection between cannabis use and heart function. Due to research limitations in the United States, there are few randomized control trials – considered the gold standard in scientific studies. However, scientists know how marijuana affects common heart diseases, which could give cardiovascular patients pause.

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Medications such as statins and blood thinners could reduce their effectiveness when combined with marijuana. Liver enzymes that break down these drugs are also used to process marijuana in the body, according to the report.

According to a 2019 study, marijuana use could increase levels of the blood thinner warfarin, potentially leading to excessive bleeding. In some cases, patients who combine marijuana and the drug could be forced to lower their dosage by up to 30%. The effectiveness of statins, on the other hand, could be increased by marijuana, which could lead to a possible drop in blood pressure.

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Observational studies have led some scientists to compare the cardiovascular risk of cigarette smoking to that of smoking weed. While the dominant substance consumed when smoking is different between marijuana and tobacco, both produce similar cardiotoxic chemicals. Additionally, other studies have shown that marijuana users smoke longer than cigarette users, potentially releasing more cardiotoxic chemicals into the body.

Marijuana advocates could point to safer marijuana delivery methods, such as edibles, tinctures and sublingual strips. The scientists involved in the review would agree that smoking and vaping of any kind causes more problems. But the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System shows that nearly 80% of adult marijuana users admit to smoking.

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However, edibles pose their own risk. The lack of experience can lead many first-time users to take too high a dosage without realizing it before it is too late.

There is still no known connection between heart disease and marijuana use. In 2017, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine published a report examining a possible link but said in its conclusion that the evidence was unclear. Until we know more, scientists warn heart patients to limit use if possible and to talk to your doctor so they can advise you on how much to use and what delivery method.