SMOKING GRASS MAY BE RISKY TO SOME HEARTS

SAN DIEGO (AP) - Warning to potheads: Smoking marijuana may be bad for
middle-aged hearts.

Harvard researchers reported yesterday the risk of a heart attack is five
times higher than usual in the hour after smoking a joint.

For someone in shape, marijuana is about twice as risky as exercising or
having sex, the researchers said.

The study conducted by Dr. Murray Mittleman of the Harvard School of Public
Health and Boston's Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Centre was presented at a
San Diego conference of the American Heart Association.

Researchers questioning 3,882 heart attack victims - men and women - at 62
U.S. locations found 124 used marijuana, with 13 per cent of those under 50
saying they smoked it. Of the 124, thirty-seven had heart attacks within a
day of using pot, including nine within an hour of enjoying a joint.