Medical data from 100m people shows risk 122% higher for amphetamine users, 96% higher for cocaine and 37% higher for cannabis
Recreational drugs can more than double the risk of stroke, with some of the most concerning impacts seen among younger people, a major review suggests.
Scientists analysed medical data from more than 100 million people and found that the risk of stroke was 122% higher for amphetamine users and 96% higher for cocaine users compared with those who did not take the drugs.
Cannabis users were also at greater risk, suffering 37% more strokes than non-users, the review found, though researchers saw no evidence that opioids, a highly addictive painkiller, added to a person’s risk of stroke.
I’m always slightly skeptical when articles talk about “cannabis users” without differentiating between smokers and other kinds of users.
Certainly cannabis has an effect on your blood pressure in all circumstances, but it seems to me that consumption differences between eating and smoking cannabis (like smoking anything) would have significant implications on the quality of this kind of study.