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Frequent cannabis use increases cardiovascular disease risk in women
Last reviewed: 02.07.2025
In a recent study published in JAMA Network Open, researchers examined whether cannabis use was associated with all-cause, cancer, and cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality.
Their results showed that heavy cannabis use was associated with a significantly higher risk of CVD mortality among women. However, they found no association between cannabis use and cancer and all-cause mortality among the entire sample of men and women.
Cannabis is the most commonly used illegal drug in the world, and its increasing legalization highlights the need to understand its health impacts.
Previous studies have suggested possible cardiovascular risks associated with cannabis use, but these studies have often been limited to specific populations, reducing the general applicability of their findings.
Additionally, there were no studies examining the differential effects of cannabis on men and women. Although the use of cannabis for medical purposes is expanding, its safety and effectiveness for various conditions remain unclear.
Some studies have suggested a link between heavy cannabis use and increased all-cause mortality and cardiovascular disease. However, other studies have found no such link, often due to methodological limitations such as small sample sizes, short follow-up periods, or limited age ranges of participants.
This study examined the associations between lifetime cannabis use and CVD, cancer, and all-cause mortality in a large general population sample, adjusting for sex.
The study used data from the UK Biobank, a large biomedical dataset comprising 502,478 people aged 40 to 69 years, recruited between 2006 and 2010 from 22 cities in the UK.
Participants provided detailed information about their health through questionnaires, interviews, physical examinations and biological samples, and their data were linked to mortality records through December 19, 2020.
Cannabis use was self-reported and categorized as never, low, moderate, and heavy.
The study analysed data from 121,895 UK Biobank participants, with an average age of 55.15 years for women and 56.46 years for men.
Among participants, 3.88% of men and 1.94% of women were heavy cannabis users. Over a median follow-up period of 11.8 years, 2,375 deaths were recorded, including 440 from cancer and 1,411 from CVD.
Heavy cannabis use among men was associated with an increased risk of all-cause mortality (odds ratio (OR) 1.28), but was not significantly associated with CVD or cancer mortality after adjustment for all factors.
In women, heavy cannabis use was associated with a higher risk of CVD mortality (OR 2.67) and a small increase in all-cause and cancer mortality after full adjustment.
Particularly among female smokers, heavy cannabis use significantly increased the risks of all-cause mortality (OR 2.25), CVD (OR 2.56), and cancer (OR 3.52).
In male smokers, the risk was increased only for cancer mortality (OR 2.44). Exclusion of participants with comorbidities showed no significant associations between heavy cannabis use and mortality.
This study is at odds with previous studies that have primarily examined all-cause mortality in younger populations, showing an increased risk associated with cannabis use.
Few studies have looked at the association between cannabis use and CVD mortality, with mixed results. Some studies have found a significant association, while others have found none.
Strengths of the study include a large sample size and standardised data collection protocols from the UK Biobank. However, the cross-sectional design limits the ability to establish causal relationships and the low response rate may introduce participant bias.
The study's focus on middle-aged UK participants limits its applicability to other demographic groups.
Future research should include longitudinal studies to examine the possible causal influence of cannabis use on mortality, with an emphasis on accurate measurements of cannabis use, including frequency, dosage, and methods of consumption.
These studies should also seek to understand sex differences in cannabis exposure and the association between cannabis use and cancer mortality, given the current mixed evidence.