SMOKING CANNABIS 'RAISES HEART ATTACK RISK'

SMOKING cannabis can increase the risk of a heart attack within an
hour by up to five times, scientists reported yesterday.

These findings may become more relevant as baby boomers, who are more
likely than previous generations to smoke marijuana, enter the age at
which heart disease is more common, according to a study of almost
4,000 people published in Circulation. Studies conducted more than 30
years ago showed that marijuana use could provoke angina, or chest
pain.

Smoking marijuana has been shown to increase heart rate and alter
blood pressure. It may also trigger a heart attack. Marijuana is
associated with an increase in the heart's demand for oxygen, while
at the same time decreasing the oxygen supply.

Some marijuana-associated heart attacks may be caused by an oxygen
supply to the heart that is inadequate to cope with the increased
demands that occur as a result of smoking the drug. Although the
relative risk does not appear to vary with age, the absolute increase
in risk associated with smoking marijuana is greater for people whose
risk is higher to begin with.

Dr Murray Mittleman, director of cardiovascular epidemiology at Beth
Israel Deaconess Medical Centre in Boston: "People's risk for
coronary artery disease increases as they enter their 40s and 50s. So
the risks associated with smoking marijuana, which might have been a
trivial issue when people were younger, may now pose a significant
health concern."