One member of this magazine’s team is a 45-year-old male, serious athlete, marijuana grower, chronic high-THC marijuana user.

His twice-yearly visits to his primary care doctor showed zero health problems.But when he was hiking up a steep hill towards his outdoor marijuana grow site after vaping high-THC marijuana flower below combustion temperature, he was surprised and scared to experience the following:

  • Sudden pain and tightness in jaw/neck.
  • Pain in left shoulder.
  • Pain and tightness in chest.
  • Dizziness.
  • Sudden fatigue.
  • Feeling of imminent fainting.
  • Stomach pain, similar to acid reflux.

He crawled back down the hill, barely made it home. EKG’s, echocardiograms and nuclear medicine stress tests revealed he had cardiovascular disease, including inflamed arteries with plaque buildup, minor heart failure, and stroke risk.

Heart attacks and strokes are described as “silent killers” because you often don’t know anything’s wrong until it’s too late.

In our colleague’s case, there were no lifestyle or genetic causes, such as unhealthy diet, lack of exercise, tobacco or marijuana smoking.

The doctors told him his problems were caused by excessive, long-term marijuana use. He refused to believe it, until our team examined the latest research in clinical journals proving without a doubt that chronic use of high-THC marijuana inherently creates cardiovascular harm.

Please note, this harm is not caused only by combusting cannabis, although combustion byproducts are absolute poison and everyone should avoid combustion whenever possible. Sadly, it’s the THC itself that’s causing cardiovascular problems.

Indeed, recent legit studies involving millions of patients show marijuana users are more likely to suffer a heart attack than people who do not use the drug, even among younger, otherwise healthy adults.

Marijuana users younger than 50 are six times more likely to suffer a heart attack compared to non-users.  They’re also much more likely to experience cardiovascular disease, ischemic stroke, cardiovascular death, or stroke.

Older marijuana users, and especially those with pre-existing cardiovascular issues or other risk factors such as obesity or a sedentary lifestyle, are also at increased risk.

Scientists say tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) creates harms by interacting with the many cannabinoid receptors in the central nervous system, heart, and blood vessels. Sudden infusion of THC inflames and stresses blood vessels, leading to buildup of plaque that clogs arteries.

High-THC marijuana induces heart rhythm irregularities, heightens oxygen demand in the heart muscle and contributes to endothelial dysfunction, making it harder for blood vessels to relax and expand, which interrupts blood flow.

People who are overweight, rarely if ever exercise, are under a lot of stress, eat an unhealthy diet, have other health problems, have a family history of cardiovascular illness are especially at risk for marijuana-induced cardiac disorders.

And yes, if you have been smoking cannabis instead of vaporizing it in a whole-flower vaporizer, and especially if you roll cannabis into cigarette papers or tobacco leaf for joints or blunts, you’ve done a lot of damage beyond what THC does.

Worse yet, the problems creep up on you and are accumulative—it’s the constant use over many years that gradually wrecks the cardiovascular system and respiratory sysytem—by the time you realize it, the damage is done, partially or wholly irreversible.

If you use high-THC marijuana more than a few times per month, here’s what to do:

  • Tell your physician you’re a chronic marijuana user concerned about cardiovascular effects, especially if you have a history of cardiovascular problems.
  • Monitor your health for the following symptoms. If you have wearable smart devices, set them to monitor for heart attack and stroke indicators. Note: many of these symptoms don’t initially appear to be cardiovascular-related, which is why marijuana-induced cardio disease can be a stealth problem. Here are the symptoms: lower overall stamina/endurance; fatigue; cramps/pain in lower legs,and/or hips; severe snoring; nausea or other gastrointestinal problems that increase with exercise; erectile dysfunction; anxiety/panic attacks; shortness of breath; heart palpitations, chest pain; arm and shoulder pain; tight jaw and neck; bloating; swelling of feet/ankles; dizziness; orthostatic hypotension; fainting.

There are things you can do to improve cardio health, along with following physician recommendations. These include:

  • Lowering blood pressure to ideal range.
  • Get regular medical evaluation for cholesterol levels and cardiovascular function.
  • Daily aerobic exercise.
  • Lose excess weight and get your body mass index to 9-15% for men, or 17-30% for women.
  • Vegan or vegetarian diet low in trans fats and saturated fats.
  • Vaporize instead of combust.
  • No tobacco or alcohol use.
  • Avoid pharmaceuticals whenever possible.
  • Reduce marijuana use to only 1-3 times per week, preferably less. Reduce frequent use of dabs or other high-THC concentrates. Note that heart harms of THC can come without inhalation, via edibles and other routes of ingestion.

Some pharmaceutical and surgical interventions for cardiovascular issues may cause as much harm as they prevent. Always ask doctors about side effects of any drug, surgery, or device they suggest.

My associate had a minor heart attack that day, and would have died if he was not an athlete whose training had strengthened his heart and blood vessels enough to fight off the acute negative THC effects. A less-fit person would have died.

He has now reluctantly decided to use a lot less marijuana, and not use marijuana before high-intensity exercise. He reports many benefits from using marijuana only a couple of times per week:

  • He gets higher for longer and enjoys it more.
  • His hearth health has improved; he realized that for years he had been struggling against the negative effects of excessive marijuana use. He now has more exercise stamina and strength, enjoys life more, enjoys marijuana more…because he uses it less often.

Note also that marijuana addiction is a real thing. If you struggle to reduce your marijuana usage, read this article.

Be aware that dishonest propaganda promoted by marijuana legalizers (it’s just a plant, it’s natural, it can’t hurt you, use as much as you want) is wholly inaccurate.

This article would have been way too long (and dominated by technical science) if we included studies– you want to detailed research this article is based on, just do a Google search using this phrase: cannabis, cardiovascular, study. You’ll find plenty of professional scientific articles like this one.

The harsh fact is THC gets you high because it has massive impacts on multiple body systems. Prudent, cautious, infrequent marijuana use, and monitoring of potential health negatives, are essential if you value your life.