STUDY: SMOKING POT INCREASES HEART RISK

Washington-The risk of a heart attack jumps nearly fivefold during the
first hour after smoking marijuana, posing a particular threat to
middle-aged users of the drug, according to a study released yesterday.

Researchers led by Dr. Murray Mittleman, director of cardiovascular
epidemiology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, interviewed
3,882 people who had a heart attack as part of a study of factors linked to
the ailment.

The likelihood of a heart attack was 4.8 times greater in the first hour
after smoking marijuana when compared with periods of non-use of the drug,
Mittleman found. In the second hour after smoking the drug, the risk was
1.7 times greater. Starting in the third hour after smoking marijuana, no
significant risk rise was documented.

Men beginning at about age 45 and women a few years older are at paramount
risk of a heart attack.

Mittleman said that while the increased risk may be negligible for young
marijuana users, it could be deadly for people already at higher risk by
virtue of their age or other risk factors.

"I think the message is that for individuals who are entering the age group
where coronary disease is prevalent-particularly if they have established
coronary disease or have multiple risk factors-that they should think about
whether it's reasonable to continue smoking marijuana given that it does
pose a real health risk to those individuals," Mittleman said in an interview.

The study appears in the journal Circulation, published by the American
Heart Association.