The growing body of scientific evidence raises concerns and is enough to warrant more clinical screening for cannabis use among “patients presenting with serious cardiovascular disorders,” the study authors wrote.
Silver and Stanton Glantz, a retired UCSF professor and renowned tobacco researcher, went even further in an editorial published alongside the study (PDF), arguing that doctors should screen and educate all patients about the health risks, particularly in light of the fact that cannabis use among 35–50-year-olds — the age range when cardiovascular disease begins to develop — has tripled since 2008.
The rate of adults who use cannabis daily is now on par with those who drink alcohol or smoke cigarettes every day.
“Before we were seeing a wisp of smoke that there was cardiovascular risk,” Silver said. “That became a cloud of smoke. Now we’re starting to see signs of a wildfire of a more serious problem, with pretty consistent evidence emerging.”
Addressing cannabis consumption should not only become part of the medical framework for how clinicians prevent heart disease and stroke, Silver and Glantz wrote, but preventing heart disease and stroke should also be part of how states regulate cannabis markets. They called for health warning labels on cannabis products, restrictions on marketing, and limits on product potency.
“Today regulation is focused on establishing the legal market with woeful neglect of minimizing health risks,” they wrote.
