By L.A. Williams
Christian Action League
January 16, 2024
You can smoke pot and call it medicine, but your heart and brain will know otherwise. That’s the upshot of new research showing the risks associated with so-called “medical marijuana,” research that the Rev. Mark Creech, executive director of the Christian Action League, says should serve as a warning to Tar Heel lawmakers.
First, the heart: research presented at an American Heart Association event in Philadelphia late last year revealed that people who used marijuana daily had a 34 percent higher risk of heart failure than those who never used it.
Performed as part of a National Institutes of Health program, the study monitored roughly 157,000 patients for almost four years. Nearly 3,000 of them (about 2 percent) developed heart failure. Daily use of cannabis was associated with the 34 percent increased risk of heart failure, regardless of age, gender or (tobacco)smoking history, the researchers found.
“Prior research shows links between marijuana use and cardiovascular disease like coronary artery disease, heart failure and atrial fibrillation, which is known to cause heart failure,” Dr. Yakubu Bene-Alhasan, the lead author of the study, told the media. “Our study provides more data linking its use to cardiovascular conditions.”
Another study delved into a database of hospitalizations to determine how older marijuana users were affected by cardiovascular events during their hospital stays compared to non users. It showed that older people with existing conditions of diabetes (type 2), high blood pressure and high cholesterol had a significantly higher risk for a major heart or brain event if they reported marijuana use.
According to the American Heart Association, the study showed that of the 28,000-plus cannabis users with existing CV risk factors:
20% had an increased chance of having a major heart or brain event while hospitalized, compared to non-users. 13.9% of cannabis users with CV risk factors had a major adverse heart and brain event while hospitalized compared to non-users. Cannabis users had a higher rate of heart attacks and were more likely to be transferred to other facilities.
“The latest research about cannabis use indicates that smoking and inhaling cannabis increases concentrations of blood carboxyhemoglobin (carbon monoxide, a poisonous gas), tar (partly burned combustible matter) similar to the effects of inhaling a tobacco cigarette, both of which have been linked to heart muscle disease, chest pain, heart rhythm disturbances, heart attacks and other serious conditions,” Dr. Robert L. Page II told USA Today. Page is a professor at the University of Colorado and the clinical pharmacy specialist for the Division of Cardiology Section of Advanced Heart Failure and Heart Transplantation.
His article, “Cannabis by any name does not smell as sweet: potential cardiovascular events with medical cannabis,” was published this month in the European Heart Journal. In it, he says that cannabis, “whether recreational or medical, still ‘smells’ the same, and the odor is definitely not ‘sweet’ in terms of potential CV hazards and possible negative worldwide public health effects.”
Page argues that “medical marijuana” is a misnomer. “The term ‘medical’ implies that the product may have some clinical monitoring along with safety and efficacy data, which is far from true with cannabis,” he writes.
A third study, performed with a nationwide cohort of patients in Denmark and published late last week in the European Heart Journal, showed that using medical cannabis was associated with an increased risk for new-onset arrhythmia. The most common arrhythmia observed was atrial fibrillation, which is closely linked to the risk of stroke, heart failure and acute coronary syndrome.
“Any knowledge on cardiovascular risk following medical cannabis use is vital for any physician prescribing medical cannabis, a position more and more physicians will likely find themselves in,” authors of the study wrote, referencing the rising demand for cannabis as pain treatment.
The Rev. Creech says the timing of the release of these studies is not coincidental.
“These findings, which are associated with potential heart issues, raise profound concerns regarding the safety of utilizing smoked marijuana as a form of medicine. Specifically, they shed light on the efforts by certain lawmakers within the North Carolina General Assembly who pushed for the legalization of marijuana as a medicine last year and are likely to resume these efforts in the upcoming Spring session,” he said.
“I firmly adhere to the teachings of the Bible on the concept of Providence. Providence is an unwavering belief in God’s loving and purposeful guidance over all aspects of existence. It acknowledges that God’s hand is at work in every event, irrespective of its scale, and that He employs these occurrences to fulfill His divine plan for the well-being of His creation and the ultimate redemption of humanity through Christ. In essence, Providence underscores the Christian faith in the absence of mere chance or coincidence, affirming that everything is ultimately under the sovereign control and care of a loving and purposeful God.”
Creech says the fact that scientific evidence now highlights the substantial health risks associated with smoked marijuana cannot be overstated even as 30 states have expedited the approval of it for medicinal use.
“It is imperative that the public is made aware of these heightened risks, and policy decisions at the state level should be grounded in comprehensive and well-researched information on marijuana use, as opposed to relying on anecdotal testimonials presented before lawmakers,” he says. “Furthermore, the determination of what constitutes medicine should not be left to legislative fiat; it requires a thorough and scientifically informed approach.”