Cumulative Marijuana Use and Carotid Intima-Media Thickness at Middle Age: The Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) Study.

BACKGROUND

Long-term cardiovascular health effects of marijuana are understudied. Future cardiovascular disease is often indicated by subclinical atherosclerosis, for which carotid intima-media thickness is an established parameter.

METHODS

Data from the CARDIA Study, a cohort of 5,115 Black and white women and men at Year 20 visit. We studied the association between carotid intima-media thickness in mid-life and lifetime exposure to marijuana (1 marijuana year = 365 days-of-use) and tobacco smoking (1 packyear = 20 cigarettes/day for 365 days). We measured carotid intima-media thickness by ultrasound and defined high carotid intima-media thickness at the threshold of the 75th percentile of all examined participants. We fit logistic regression models stratified by tobacco smoking exposure, adjusting for demographics, cardiovascular risk factors, and other drug exposures.

RESULTS

Data was complete for 3,257 participants; 2,722 (84%) reported ever marijuana use; 374 (11%) were current users; 1,539 (47%) reported ever tobacco smoking; 610 (19%) were current smokers. Multivariable adjusted models showed no association between cumulative marijuana exposure and high carotid intima-media thickness in never or ever tobacco smokers, odds ratio (OR) 0.87 (95% CI: 0.63 to 1.21) at 1 marijuana-year among never smokers and OR 1.11 (95% CI: 0.85 to 1.45) among ever tobacco smokers. Cumulative exposure to tobacco was strongly associated with high carotid intima-media thickness, OR 1.88 (95%CI: 1.20 to 2.94) for 20 pack-years of exposure.

CONCLUSIONS

This study adds to the growing body of evidence that there might be no association between the average population level of marijuana use and subclinical atherosclerosis.