Marijuana Use

There is no documented benefit of cannabis use for CVD prevention or treatment, according to a scientific statement from the American Heart Association.

Healio and Cardiology Today present the top-read articles published in January 2020. Healio readers were most interested in the impact of green tea on ASCVD, contributors to losing the battle against heart disease, the ability of positive ECG and negative echocardiography identify patients with elevated CV risk, the use of marijuana in patients with CVD and more.

One of the top stories in cardiology last week showed that several million Americans with CVD have used marijuana, and experts are warning about the potential health consequences for these high-risk patients.

Marijuana vaping among adolescents in the United States increased from 2018 to 2019, including an absolute increase of more than 6.5% in 12th graders, according to survey results published in JAMA.

Despite the modest strength of current evidence, cardiologists should screen and test their patients for marijuana use in select CV settings, according to a review published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

Leaders from the FDA and the National Institute on Drug Abuse said during a recent House Committee on Energy and Commerce hearing that there is a pressing need for federal laws that allow more research into marijuana, including research investigating the effects of different amounts of THC.

Most patients with electronic cigarette- or vaping-associated lung injuries, or EVALI, who used products with THC acquired the products from informal sources like family and friends or dealers, according to findings published in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Parental marijuana use was associated with increased risk for substance use among adolescent and young adult children living in the same household, according to results from a cross-sectional study published in JAMA.

Healio Primary Care looked back at 2019 and compiled a list of the most popular stories on women’s health, leading with CDC data that showed 16.2% of pregnant women reported using marijuana almost every day.

Marijuana e-cigarette use increased by almost 4 percentage points among middle school and high school students from 2017 to 2018, according to study findings published in JAMA.