• Posted June 23, 2025

Weed Use Linked To Heart-Related Deaths

MONDAY, June 23, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Weed is associated with a doubled risk of death from heart disease, a new evidence review shows. 

The study also found that marijuana use is linked to an increased risk of stroke and heart attack, according to results published June 17 in the journal Heart.

“Our findings are consistent with those from previous reviews, which outlined a positive association between cannabis use and cardiovascular disorders,” wrote the research team led by senior investigator Emilie Jouanjus, a lecturer in pharmacology at Toulouse University Hospital in France.

The review “raises serious questions about the assumption that cannabis imposes little cardiovascular risk,” said the authors of an accompanying editorial.

These results suggest that weed should be treated like tobacco – not criminalized but actively discouraged, with additional protections against exposure to secondhand smoke, the editorial said.

“Effective product warnings and education on risks must be developed, required and implemented” based on the risk weed poses to heart health, wrote the editorial team led by Stanton Glantz, a retired professor of medicine with the University of California-San Francisco. 

For the review, researchers pooled data from 24 previous studies involving about 200 million people between 19 and 59.

The analysis found that weed users have twice the risk of dying from heart disease, as well as a 29% increased risk of heart attack and 20% higher risk of stroke.

However, the researchers noted that the studies did not distinguish whether increased heart risks come from smoking cannabis, or if they extend to edible products as well.

The studies also didn’t do a good job tracking how much weed people used, instead asking if they were current users or had used within the past month or year, researchers noted.

“While most respondents likely inhaled the cannabis (mostly smoking), use patterns are changing rapidly, making it important for future studies to collect data on mode of administration and potency,” the editorial said.

Daily cannabis use has tripled among U.S. adults 35 to 50, rising from 2.5% to 7.5% between 2008 and 2023, the editorial said. That nearly matches the rate of daily alcohol use and daily tobacco smoking for the same age group.

“The situation in young adults aged 19-30 is even more concerning, with quadrupling of daily use since 1990, which now affects 1 in 10 (10.4%) of this age group (versus 3.6% for daily alcohol use and 3.6% for daily use of cigarettes),” the editorial added.

More information

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more on cannabis and heart health.

SOURCES: BMJ, June 17, 2025; BMJ, news release, June 17, 2025