A Recently study published in the journal of the American heart association and funded by the national institutes of health. Reveals about the health risks associated with adults who consume marijuana on a daily basis are 25 percent more prone to having a risk of heart attack than the one who do not use it.
The research based on data collected by the centers for Disease control and prevention from 2016 to 2020, included 434,104 American residents aged 18 to 74.
According to the study, adults who consume marijuana on a daily basis face a 25% higher risk of experiencing a heart attack compared to non-users. Additionally, there is a 42% increased risk of stroke associated with regular cannabis usage. The research highlighted that these cardiovascular risks were considerably lower in individuals who used cannabis less frequently, with a 3% greater risk of heart attack and a 5% increased risk of stroke.
Among the participants, four percent reported daily cannabis use, while seven percent used it occasionally, approximately five times a month. The most common methods of consumption were smoking, followed by vaping and consuming cannabis-infused foods.
The researchers noted a significant increase in cannabis use in the U.S. population from 2002 to 2019, with past-year prevalence rising from 10.4% to 18.0%. Daily or almost daily use also saw an increase from 1.3% to 3.9%. Despite this trend, perceptions of the harmfulness of cannabis decreased, as evidenced by a decline in adult belief in the great risk of weekly cannabis use from 50% in 2002 to 28.6% in 2019.
In response to their findings, the researchers recommended that physicians screen patients for cannabis use and advice against smoking it, adopting a similar approach to the established screening procedures for tobacco smoking. This comes as diagnoses of cannabis use disorder are on the rise, indicating that the increase in cannabis use extends beyond reporting and is accompanied by a decline in perceived harm.
