An increasing number of studies are showing that marijuana may not be so harmless after all.
In two new studies, to be presented later this month at the American Heart Association (AHA) Scientific Sessions 2023, researchers found that regular marijuana use increased the risk of heart attack, stroke or heart failure — even after factors like type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and obesity were taken into account.
“Prior research shows links between marijuana use and cardiovascular disease like coronary artery disease, heart failure and atrial fibrillation, which is known to cause heart failure,” lead study author Yakubu Bene-Alhasan, M.D., MPH, a resident physician at Medstar Health in Baltimore, said in a statement. “Marijuana use isn’t without its health concerns, and our study provides more data linking its use to cardiovascular conditions.”
My first question when seeing studies like this: is what they are studying just a proxy for socioeconomic status? My follow-up question (when the study is in the US): did they control for having/not having health insurance? (no, the answer to this is always no)
[edit: to be clear, I don’t have a dog in this fight. I don’t use marijuana, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it had negative health effects. But I also take studies like this with a grain of salt.]