Does smoking marijuana increase the risk of heart disease or stroke?

A recent study by Dr. Jean Lud Cadet of the National Institute on Drug Abuse showed that heavy marijuana use boosts the levels of a protein called apolipoprotein C-III in the blood by up to 30%, which increases the levels of triglycerides in the blood. Triglycerides contribute to the hardening and thickening of arteries and raise the risk of heart disease and stroke.

The study measured the protein levels in 18 long-term marijuana users who smoked an average of 78 to 350 joints a week — 11 to 50 joints per day — which, according to the NORML blog, is equivalent to 2 to 9 ounces per week. The study did not research whether or not the subjects actually had heart disease.

Bruce Mirken, spokesman for the The Marijuana Policy Project disputed the results:

We’re talking about people who are stoned all the time. We’re talking about the marijuana equivalent of the guy in the alley clutching a bottle of cheap wine. If you do anything to that level of excess, it might well have some untoward effects, whether it’s marijuana or wine or broccoli [...] Even if you take this finding at face value, it’s not at all clear that it has any relevance to the real world because there is still no data showing higher rates of mortality among marijuana smokers. If this was a significant cause of cardiovascular disease, where are the bodies?

In other words – If you’re not smoking upwards of two ounces of weed every week, you shouldn’t really have anything to worry about.

With the amount of people that smoke weed, it amazes me how stupid some people can be when it comes to doing so inconspicuously.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve called several of my friends just to hear about how they got arrested for possession. It always makes me wonder – How dense are they? All it takes is a little bit of common sense!

For those of you who are lacking in the common sense department, NORML and Jeff Steinborn have you taken care of. They released a comic strip type thing to help you all out. It’s kind of old, but it’s a great resource for the people that just can’t seem to get discretion through their heads.

Click on the image to make it bigger.