Research
Hospital visits for heart failure and heart attacks rose faster when states legalized recreational cannabis
Earth.com · By Luis Arrais ·
The Brief
- Earth.com reports that hospital visits for heart failure and heart attacks rose faster in states that legalized recreational cannabis.
- Legal recreational cannabis sales began in the western United States in 2014, and hospital stays for heart conditions rose afterward according to the article excerpt.
- The provided excerpt does not include methods, effect sizes or the underlying study details.
Why it matters
The findings point to a possible link between cannabis legalization and cardiac hospital admissions, which matters for health planning in states weighing or implementing legalization. The excerpt gives no effect sizes or causal evidence.
Who’s affected
- public health researchers
- health policy makers in states considering or implementing cannabis legalization
- hospital planners
- #cannabis
- #heart-disease
- #public-health
- #drug-policy
Voting to legalize recreational cannabis feels like a decision about the people who choose to use it. The hospitals in a state get a vote too, in the form of who shows up at the door. Legal sales began in the western United States in 2014. After that, hospital stays for heart…