Discussion summary
A 2025 study suggests cannabis use may significantly increase heart attack risk, with THC linked to vascular issues. Discussions include potential mechanisms, historical context, and public perceptions.
What the discussion says
- Some users warn about the health risks of cannabis, especially THC.
- Others mention the influence of other substances like cocaine.
- Critics highlight the need for cautious interpretation of the study.
“THC found in gummies may cause vascular problems.”
“Cannabis consumption often involves other illicit drugs.”
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- Hacker News
- Just a few years ago cannabis was presented online as a miracle drug that could cure all physical and psychological diseases. Any criticism of the sacred cannabis was strictly forbidden and dissenters were burned alive in the figurative fire of social media. Interesting how times are changing.
- See also: Bitcoin, Tesla/Musk, Appleby cj
- That was likely a reaction to the DARE/reefer madness propaganda many of us grew up with, which was obvious bullshit.
- I'm not so sure.
There's always been a pragmatic center on cannabis, especially if you're somewhere where it's legalized.
In Canada, we have legal cannabis.
https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/drugs-medica...
When it was legalized, there was a documentation push and clear presentation of the downsides. In fact, as above, the language is mostly presented in the negative.
This matches the general sentiment of the broad population.
And let's not conflate things. The article is discussing smoked cannabis. This does not invalidate the essential substance and benefit of the experience. If we remove the ingestion method from the basket of effects, it's a different discussion.
Not all positive, yet smoking is clearly not good for you.
Full stop, no matter what it is.
by goodroot - Is there something that can help a habitual cannabis user stop? GLP1s maybe?by SoftTalker
- Controlled tapering.
- Just stop. It's the easiest thing in the world to quit.by mvdtnz
- If I have cannabis on hand I will use it. But if I just don't buy it it's pretty easy to do without. Nothing at all like nicotine, which will consume your entire consciousness with cravings.by padjo
- You can cold-turkey it. Know daily smokers who (temporarily) quit for multiple reasons, e.g. medical reasons, job, extended travelling.
From what I have seen, there are no side effects at all. They go back to smoking when the opportunity arises, but that's another story.
- What has worked for me is (1) Buy 4+ boxes of coconut water (2) remove cannabis from your house, (3) drink coconut water whenever you feel like smoking, (4) get some exercise going (swim, push-ups, gym, sports) - whatever the "MVP" of exercise is to start thinking of your body as fit, athletic & strong.by dv35z
- It's not addictive along the same pathways (as far as I'm aware) from what I observe in my own life you either smoke casually and could stop whenever you want to (I used to then I stopped no problem) or you are dealing with psychological stress factors that are best treated with the help of a mental health professional.by acc_297
- Some commenters here talking about anxiety, but I think the bigger cause, which many people don't know, is that THC significantly increases your heart rate despite it's usual characterization as a depressant. If I recall correctly (big "if" considering the circumstances hah) my heart rate after smoking would go up by 10-20 BPM (from 65-70 to 80-90) while still feeling relaxed; ~~finding some numbers on this from a reputable source is difficult right now and this symptom is suspiciously missing from the wikipedia page~~.
Edit:
Realized this comment sounds like fear mongering, so decided to dig up some actual sources. The wiki page I needed to find was:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effects_of_cannabis
Also, the CDC page mentions it:
https://www.cdc.gov/cannabis/health-effects/heart-health.htm...
And links to this paper (though I can't read past the abstract bc no institutional access):
by ear7h - What did you tend to listen to or watch ambiently though while under its influence?
- There's more going on here than just the substance's effect.
There's a mind body connection that an altered state can throw into disarray.
Under the influence of cannabis, one may be a lot more aware of physical pain, dehydration, and so on. The key word is aware. Suddenly becoming aware of the fact that you are stressed out, you are carrying tension, can lead to something of a latent processing effect of some of these suppressed or physically felt emotions.
However, if you're generally not tense, ingesting cannabis itself does not always raise the heart rate. I can validate this myself right now, given I wear an Apple Watch and can vaporize cannabis. Looking at my historical data, there is no relationship, and my resting heart rate remains in the 40s.
It's anecdotal, but at the same time we need to be careful with something that acts on the physical, the mental, and dare I say it, the spiritual. If we focus too much on one dimension, we lose the important synergy from processing all dimensions.
by goodroot - What I find fascinating is how smokers rationalize their behaviour, e. g. "weed is harmless". When they compare it to fentanyl or heroine/cocaine, but compounds are never intrinsically harmless. But you can not get that message across most folks who are smoking weed. It's a somewhat similar issue, to some extent, when you look at sumo wrestlers. These have a significantly lower life expectancy on average than the rest of the society in Japan, but the sumo association does not acknowledge that. It's really strange how the human mind operates.by shevy-java
- I mean let's face it, most of us reading this comment are medically obese and would probably live at least 2-3 years longer if we lost 20 pounds.
So why don't we?
by cj - Have you ever smoked/ingested cannabis before?by rglover
- “They say coke kills but they don’t know when” is a refrain I have heard.
- people rarely compare cannabis to fentanyl they normally compare it to alcohol and tobacco...by stringfood
- >but the sumo association does not acknowledge that
That's just wrong. Why do you think their force retirement ages are so low?
by tokai - Or alcohol, or whatever others are doing. In Italy, where I live, people on the ‘left’ side of the political spectrum (let’s say ‘progressives’) tend to think it’s perfectly ok to smoke dope, irregardless of what any scientific study may or may not say. This seems very weird to me.by dotcoma
- There's a saying: don't throw stones if you live in a glass house. The same human mind that rationalizes the intake of substances is the same one that rationalizes social networks, junk food, eating meat, whatever it is. I wouldn't be so quick to condescend.
At some point in time, it's important to realize that not everyone optimizes for longevity, correctness, rationalism, and so on, and they just simply do what makes them feel good within the limited life that they have.
Nothing is intrinsically harmless. Cannabis can be devastating. But I was just sitting here doing work one day, got a hemorrhage in my eye, and lost half the sight in it. Otherwise, I'm supremely healthy. The cause: a gene.
by goodroot - Gave myself temporary afib with pot, wore an Apple Watch for five years to confirm a hard stop resolved the afib (it eventually did after a few months with no changes in dietary/activity and I continued monitoring for five years), sold the Apple Watch. Turns out my adhd’s addiction resistance has the unfortunate downside of being able to OD on pot without noticing it. Glad to see science caught up. No confounding factors like nicotine et al, no recurrence since.by altairprime
- I was under the impression that breathing in burnt particulate of any sort was associated with serious cardiovascular risk? I would think a significant portion of cannabis users ingest smoke very frequently or at least second hand smoke more frequently than people who do not engage at all with a subculture that is largely smoke oriented.by yasaheblasa
- No there is something special about cannabis smoke that makes it perfectly fine to inhale daily /sby LastTrain
- Would be nice to know how much of a role a sedentary lifestyle plays in it or if it puts everyone at risk regardless of other habits. Maybe this just means you need to do cardio several times a week to keep using THC.by gchamonlive
- FWIW, I've smoked cannabis daily for maybe 15 years, I'm not exactly sedentary (have dogs, a partner and like to (lazily) swim in the sea) but generally don't exercise. Visited a cardiologist like two months ago and have perfectly fine heart despite the smoking.
Anecdotal of course, many could probably bring up counter-stories too, but I do think you bring up a good point, it seems to me a completely sedentary lifestyle seems to be way more destructive to your health than moderate usage of various drugs and/or eating habits. People who just walk a bit daily already seem way healthier and happier than peers in their same age.
- The study controlled for general health but I would note that the odds-ratio reported for cannabis use (4-6) is not so different from the odds-ratio associated when studying high vs. low income cohorts (3-5). This study is not a random blinded clinical trial it's reporting a trend present in ~5 million electronic health records which I assume record yes/no to patients ever telling a doctor they have used cannabis.
I would assume that cannabis use correlates with a few other important heart health variables and we would expect the odds ratio to be lower when accounting for those (alcohol doesn't have an OR more than 1.0, tobacco smoking ~1.5)
I'm sure that cannabis use is bad for cardio health but the reported odds ratio is very high. I personally do not use cannabis.
by acc_297 - For me, cannabis causes anxiety, and it’s pretty well established that anybody with anxiety or bipolar or schizophrenia should not be using cannabis because it can make these much worse. I don’t suffer anxiety anymore, but there’s plenty of scientific evidence about the relationship between anxiety and cannabis use.by dvduval
- I’ve seen it happen over and over again, regular smokers stop smoking because weed only gives them anxiety now. It’s literally a gateway drug to an anxiety disorder.by bottlepalm