Pot and Angina

The physiological effects of smoking marijuana have been as little documented and almost as hotly disputed as the psychological and social results. Two physicians at the Long Beach (Calif.) VA Hospital have now produced some firm data for one class of pot smokers: those with angina pectoris, a condition that causes intervals of intense chest pains. Knowing that smoking any tobacco cigarette (even the nonnicotine variety) hastens the onset of angina in men with coronary-artery disease, Drs. Wilbert S. Aronow and John Cassidy tested ten such volunteers with a marijuana cigarette and a nonmarijuana cigarette. Before smoking, the men exercised on a bicycle long enough for angina to develop. Then they rested, smoked one of the cigarettes, and exercised again. After a pot smoke, angina occurred in half the normal time; the heart rate went up from about 72 to 100, blood pressure from 120/81 to 130/86, and the level of carbon monoxide in the blood increased markedly. Few known angina patients may take to pot, but there are many more potential victims who should be forewarned.

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