WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The number of people using cannabis and related products has grown a lot in the past 10 years. While earlier research suggested it could affect heart health, the exact level of risk wasn't known.
Recently, a large new analysis looked at data from about 200 million people, mostly aged 19 to 59, using 24 different studies. The results showed that cannabis use is linked to 29 percent higher risk of acute coronary syndrome, 20 percent higher risk of stroke, and twice the risk of dying from heart disease.
These findings, published in the journal Heart, raised serious concerns about the long-term safety of cannabis, especially since it is now legal in many places in the U.S.
Researchers also noted that today's cannabis products go beyond traditional smoking and now include vapes, edibles, and other forms, which may have different effects on the heart, many of which are yet to be studied.
They recommended stricter rules, more research, better public education, understanding and treating cannabis risks more like tobacco.
'Cannabis needs to be incorporated into the framework for prevention of clinical cardiovascular disease. So too must cardiovascular disease prevention be incorporated into the regulation of cannabis markets. Effective product warnings and education on risks must be developed, required, and implemented,' they wrote.
'Cardiovascular and other health risks must be considered in the regulation of allowable product and marketing design as the evidence base grows. Today that regulation is focused on establishing the legal market with woeful neglect of minimising health risks.'
'Specifically, cannabis should be treated like tobacco: not criminalised, but discouraged, with protection of bystanders from secondhand exposure.'
However, the researchers admitted there were some limitations as many of the studies they reviewed were observational, used similar data, or had missing or unclear information about how cannabis was used.
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