The American Heart Association has some bad news for weed smokers. The association released a new statement based on studies that claim marijuana is not good for the heart. "The American Heart Association recommends that people not smoke or vape any substance, including cannabis products, because of the potential harm to the heart, lungs and blood vessels," said Dr. Rose Marie Robertson, the deputy chief science and medical officer for the American Heart Association, in a statement. The warning is already obvious, most people know that inhaling smoke is not the best thing for your heart and lungs. That is why you cough, your body is fighting to remove the smoke because it is damaging.
The new scientific statement, published Wednesday, used existing information and studies to draw conclusions about weed and the heart. The statement says that marijuana has, "the potential to interfere with prescribed medications" and also "trigger cardiovascular conditions or events, such as heart attacks and strokes," according to clinical pharmacologist Robert Page II. However, Page did not discourage the use of marijuana altogether.
"If people choose to use cannabis for its medicinal or recreational effects, the oral and topical forms, for which doses can be measured, may reduce some of the potential harms," Page said in a statement. For those living in states where marijuana is legal, Page encourages them to stray away from drug dealers. "It is also vitally important that people only use legal cannabis products because there are no controls on the quality or the contents of cannabis products sold on the street," he stated. Oral and topical cannabis products that focus on CBD over THC are beginning to become more popular, because of research like this.
