People who frequently smoke marijuana have an increased risk of heart attack and stroke, according to a study published Wednesday.

The paper, published in The Journal of the American Heart Association, analyzed responses to the U.S. government’s annual survey on behavioral risks from 2016 to 2020.

Respondents answered questions about their health, including reporting their own health problems related to heart disease.

About 4 percent of respondents reported daily marijuana use, and researchers suggested that marijuana use increased the likelihood of a heart attack by 25 percent and stroke by 42 percent. Among people who have never smoked, daily smoking is associated with a 49 percent increased risk of heart attack and more than double the risk of stroke, the study showed.

About three-quarters of respondents said smoking is the main way they use cannabis. The remaining one-quarter of his doses were ingested through vaping, edibles, and drinks.

“Cannabis smoke releases the same toxins and particulate matter as cigarettes,” said Abra M. Jeffers, lead author of the study and a data analyst at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. She conducted this analysis during her postdoctoral fellowship at the University of California, San Francisco.

This study is merely observational in that it examines survey responses. No conclusive evidence has been provided that regular marijuana use causes heart disease.

Still, researchers and experts said they were concerned about the effects, especially as cannabis use has increased in recent years. Thirty-eight states have legalized the medical use of marijuana, and 24 states have begun allowing recreational use.

Dr. Nora D. Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, said in an email that as cannabis consumption increases, “the incidence of adverse health effects such as addiction, respiratory disease, accidents, and mental illness also increases. ” and cardiovascular events. ”

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration is considering whether to follow the recommendations of a team of federal scientists at the Food and Drug Administration. The same team concluded last year that marijuana should be reclassified into the less restrictive controlled substance category. They cited marijuana’s lower potential for abuse compared to other drugs and its possible medical benefits.

However, the authors of the new paper warned that frequent marijuana use “may be an important but underappreciated risk factor leading to many preventable deaths.”

“This study shows that smoking marijuana can be just as harmful as smoking cigarettes,” said Salome Kehani, a professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, and senior author of the study. the doctor said.

“Cannabis is commonly marketed as a harmless substance with potential health benefits,” Dr. Keehani added. “I fear we are sleepwalking into a public health crisis. Progress on smoking may be reversed.”

Heart disease is already the leading cause of death in the United States. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 695,000 Americans died from cardiovascular-related causes such as coronary artery disease in 2021.

Other studies have documented a sharp increase in marijuana consumption. The percentage of Americans reporting marijuana use increased from 7% in 2013 to 17% last year, according to a Gallup poll.

A study published in August, funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, provides more detailed information on consumption by age. From 2012 to 2022, reported use among adults up to age 30 increased from 28% to 44%, and daily use increased from 6% to 11%. In the 35-50 age group, the overall usage rate rose from 13% to 28%.

A 2023 federal survey found that 8 percent of eighth graders, 18 percent of 10th graders, and 29 percent of 12th graders recorded using marijuana in the past year.

The new study was funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health. The analyzed surveys were obtained from 434,104 respondents aged 18 to 74 years. Sixty percent were white, 12% were black, and 19% were Hispanic.

Dr. David C. Goff, director of the institute’s cardiovascular division, which funded the study, cautioned that it is difficult to compare the theoretical harms of smoking and marijuana because smoking patterns differ. . People tend to consume more cigarettes per day, but marijuana users tend to inhale their marijuana more deeply and hold it longer.

“All we can say is that getting smoke into your lungs is a bad idea,” he says.

A new study finds that even relatively casual weed use is linked to heart disease. Weekly use was found to increase the risk of heart attack by 3% and the risk of stroke by 5%.

Robert Page, a pharmacist at the University of Colorado School of Medicine in Aurora, who was not involved in the study, said patients and their health care providers should have open conversations about cannabis use. But, he added, even doctors are often unaware of the risks.

“People don’t know the data,” he says. “They think it’s safe because it’s natural.”