Adults ages 45 and younger who consume cannabis are twice as likely to have a heart attack compared to people who didn't use it, research published Sept. 7 in the Canadian Medical Association Journal suggests.
The study involved 33,173 adults who participated in the CDC's behavioral risk surveys in 2017 and 2018. Of those, 4,610 or 17.5 percent reported using cannabis within the past 30 days.
A total of 61 recent cannabis users (1.3 percent) later had a heart attack, compared to 0.8 percent of those who said they didn't consume cannabis.
Researchers did not identify a significant difference in risk based on the method of consumption, such as smoking or edibles. Previous research has shown how the drug can affect a person's heart rate, the study's lead author told CNN.
It can create an irregular heart rate, which requires more oxygen. At the same time, the drug can limit the amount of oxygen delivered to the heart.
"What you end up having is this mismatch of oxygen supply and demand which fundamentally leads to heart attacks," said Karim Ladha, MD, lead study author and staff anesthesiologist at St. Michael's Hospital and the University of Toronto in Canada.
While not part of the study, Robert Page, PharmD, chair of the American Heart Association's scientific statement on cannabis, told CNN that cannabis on the market today is much more potent than decades earlier, which may play a factor.
"This isn't what your granddaddy used to smoke at Woodstock; this is highly potent," Dr. Page said.