Cannabis use disorder linked to 60% higher cardiovascular disease risk in Canadian adults

Cannabis use disorder was associated with significantly higher cardiovascular disease events (RR 1.57, 95% CI 1.40-1.77). CUD was also associated with reduced time to incident CVD. The highest relative risks were in those without mental health comorbidity, without recent healthcare use, and without prescription medications.

Matched population-based retrospective cohort using five linked Alberta administrative health databases (2012-2019). 29,764 CUD-matched pairs (59,528 total). Poisson regression and Mantel-Haenszel risk ratios computed.

Cardiovascular disease is a leading cause of death, and cannabis use disorder prevalence is rising. This population-level evidence of increased cardiovascular risk could influence clinical screening and counseling practices.

The finding that healthier individuals (no comorbidities, no medications, no recent healthcare) had the highest relative risk is notable. It suggests cannabis use disorder may be a more prominent cardiovascular risk factor when other traditional risk factors are absent.

Administrative data cannot capture cannabis use severity or consumption method. CUD diagnosis codes likely capture only severe use. Cannot separate effects of cannabis from effects of smoking. Matched design controls for some but not all confounders.