Let's Make a Joint Decision Not To
So Doc, is marijuana bad for your heart?
During the Revolutionary War wounded American and British soldiers were treated with opium – today we know this as Oxycodone and Oxycontin. It was really great at relieving pain from injury. During the Civil War over 10 million opium pills were given to Union soldiers leading to significant addiction in veterans. By 1895, it was estimated that 1 in 200 Americans had an opioid addiction. In 2016, opioids led to 52,404 fatal drug overdoses. How is making marijuana more accessible going to be a positive?
You heard me asking about marijuana, not opioids right?
Like opioids, marijuana is a massive drug experiment on the general public. An estimated 39 million people including 2 million with heart disease, are willfully experimenting with cannabis! As of January 1, 2020, 11 states have voted to allow legalized recreational marijuana. Thirty three states have legalized medical use of marijuana for pain, anxiety, and depression. This means that 200 million people live where they have access to an unstudied “medicine.”
Why don’t we know much about the effects of marijuana?
Federally, cannabis is a Schedule 1 drug – meaning it has high abuse potential, no proven medical use, and severe safety concerns. Because it’s a Schedule 1 drug, access to it for study is difficult. It’s also challenging to come up with a placebo.
Scientist #1: Thanks for being a part of our study on the effects of marijuana. Each of you will receive financial compensation for your participation in this study. Now the first group can smoke joints!
Group #1 guy:
Scientist #1: The second group gets to smoke sagebrush!
Group #2 guy:
What is marijuana exactly?
Marijuana is a drug that comes from the Cannabis plant. The plant itself contains 483 known compounds that are found in the dried flowers, fruits, leaves and stems. The plant parts can be smoked, eaten, vaped, or used as a tincture.
How much is it used?
Shockingly more people now use marijuana than smoke cigarettes in the US. What’s also scary is the growth in marijuana use. In 2006, 3 million people said they used cannabis at least 300 days in a year. The number of frequent users had increased to 8 million by 2017 (12 million Americans drink alcohol daily).
How does marijuana work?
The stuff found in marijuana has effects not only on the brain but the heart and blood vessels. One compound tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is responsible for the “high.” A second compound called cannabidiol (CBD) is NOT addictive and is also responsible for curing 99,700,000 things including metastatic ear lobe cancer because that’s the number of internet hits for “CBD benefits.” Every one of these websites will gratefully take your credit card numbers too.
What are the overall effects of marijuana?
Within minutes of smoking one becomes euphoric, relaxed, has difficulty concentrating and gets hungry. When eaten, these same effects occur after 30 minutes. Either way, the feelings last for about 6 hours after onset. It’s been said that if everyone smoked marijuana at the same time, there would be peace for about two hours, followed by a global food shortage.
So what’s the difference between marijuana and CBD?
CBD is NOT addictive and has many claims as to its “super-powers.” Some studies suggest it may help as a sleep aid or mildly help with neuropathic pain. CBD is not regulated by the FDA. CBD can be found in everything from dog treats to skin creams, inhalers, coffee, ice cream and of course brownies – giving a whole meaning to the term pot belly. The FDA has warned that CBD may cause liver injury, and possible male fertility damage.
But there has to be some truth to marijuana helping people with medical problems, right?
FDA approved medications based off THC are used to treat nausea and loss of appetite. The one FDA approved drug based off CBD is used to treat two rare seizure disorders.
So back to my question, can marijuana cause a heart attack?
One review of 36 studies found that marijuana was a trigger for heart attacks similar to cocaine and eating a heavy meal. It has been observed that heart attacks are very common within one hour of smoking marijuana. One in every seventeen people with a heart attack under the age of 50 tests positive for marijuana use. People with heart attacks who continue to smoke marijuana report having more frequent chest pain. Furthermore, marijuana use after a heart attack increases the risk of further heart attacks and death.
Can marijuana do anything else to the heart or blood vessels?
One study out of Australia found that adults under the age of 65 who smoked marijuana at least once weekly were 5 times more likely to have a stroke.
Are there other harms from marijuana?
Yes. It can interact with commonly used heart medications including beta blockers (metoprolol), calcium channel blockers (diltiazem), statins, and warfarin. It is the 3rd most common cause of drug related ER visits behind Cocaine and Heroin.
Summarize it for me Doc!
Using marijuana is probably not good for your heart. There exists a large gap between enthusiasm on the internet and scientific proof for CBD. There are no known benefits to the heart with marijuana or CBD. A growing amount of evidence suggests that marijuana can cause and trigger heart attacks. Don’t be a pothead.
What are your thoughts on CBD or marijuana laced hand creams for sore muscles?
Thanks.
CBD is non-addictive. There’s no known harm of hand creams with CBD.