Blood pressure and hypertension in older adults with a history of regular cannabis use: findings from the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis

Jamie Corroon; Ryan Bradley; Matthew A Allison; Igor Grant

doi:10.3389/fcvm.2024.1432923

Blood pressure and hypertension in older adults with a history of regular cannabis use: findings from the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis

Front Cardiovasc Med. 2024 Oct 30:11:1432923. doi: 10.3389/fcvm.2024.1432923. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Jamie Corroon¹, Ryan Bradley², Matthew A Allison¹, Igor Grant³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Family Medicine, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, United States.
² Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, United States.
³ Department of Psychiatry, Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, United States.

Abstract

Background: Observational evidence investigating associations between cannabis use and blood pressure and hypertension is inconsistent.

Methods: Cross-sectional data from 3,255 participants at Exam 6 (2016-2018) of the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) were analyzed, including self-reported cannabis smoking patterns, standardized measures of systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), pulse pressure (PP; BP collectively), and hypertension. ANCOVA and multivariable relative risk regression models were used to calculate adjusted means for BP and adjusted prevalence ratios (PRs) for prevalent hypertension.

Results: In fully adjusted ANCOVA models, a history of regular cannabis smoking, when compared to no history, was not significantly associated with increased SBP [mean difference: 0.1 mmHg (95% CI: -1.6-1.9)], DBP [mean difference: 0.5 mmHg (95% CI: -0.3-1.4)], PP [mean difference: -0.5 mmHg (95% CI: -1.8-0.9)], or prevalent hypertension [PR: 1.01 (95% CI: 0.93-1.10)]. Furthermore, no associations were observed for either the duration or recency (in the past month) of cannabis smoking or number of joint/pipe years. Models exploring potential interactions between a history of regular cannabis smoking and age, sex, race/ethnicity, and cigarette smoking status were not significant for either BP or hypertension.

Conclusions: In a cohort of racially and ethnically diverse older adults with a high prevalence of hypertension, no evidence of increased risk due to regular cannabis smoking was found for either blood pressure or hypertension.

Keywords: blood pressure; cannabis; cardiovascular disease; hypertension; marijuana.

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare that financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This research was supported by contracts 75N92020D00001, HHSN268201500003I, N01-HC-95159, 75N92020D00005, N01-HC-95160, 75N92020D00002, N01-HC-95161, 75N92020D00003, N01-HC-95162, 75N92020D00006, N01-HC-95163, 75N92020D00004, N01-HC-95164, 75N92020D00007, N01-HC-95165, N01-HC-95166, N01-HC-95167, N01-HC-95168, and N01-HC-95169 from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, and by grants UL1-TR-000040, UL1-TR-001079, and UL1-TR-001420 from the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), T32HL079891 from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, and K24AT011568 from the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine. Additional support was provided by the UCSD Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research.