Stoner Forums - A Marijuana & 420 Friendly Community

Hello,
My friend was interested in smoking Marijuana for the first time ever. I am concerned for his safety though because he has a heart disease. This means that he cant participate in sports, well he can play them but not long. If he does this or any physical activity for a long period of time his heart rate increases by a lot!

Don't get the wrong idea though. It's not like he is handicap or anything of the likes. He runs and has a good time just like all of us. But his heart rate can increase.

Things like "energy drinks" are really bad for him, he drinks them occasionally but its not recommended. Just thought that would give you guys an idea.

So my question is, would it be safe for him to partake in smoking Marijuana, and eventually getting that "high" sensation afterwards?
Regards

Damian

Be aware that marijuana CAN and DOES cause heart rate to increase. It may well be dangerous to your friend. However, in general the heart rate increases are fairly minor (Don't quote me on this or accept this as fact--this is anecdotal).

In short, it's really a maybe/maybe not. I'm not a medical professional, and i don't know your friends situation.

So my advice is to consult a medical professional first. Failing that, you could try obtaining detailed information on your friends condition and on marijuana-induced heart-rate increases, and try to figure out if the increases would be dangerous, but that is subject to error in all sorts of ways.

EDIT: According to some quick internet research (as yet unverified), marijuana can increase your heart rate by up to 40 bpm. This may or may not be dangerous to your buddy, it's about 50% of normal resting heart rate (around 70 bpm). I'll try to get some verification on that number.

Marijuana does increase heart rate slightly, Which could be from the smoking of it. It is also a vaso-dialator, It opens up arteries. I have heart troubles, 25 surgeries, and i toke. The smoking part is bad. Smoking anything is not good for anyone , let alone someone with heart troubles. Eating weed or useing a vaporiser would be the best way to partake without any of the harmful effects smoking brings him. Energy drinks are mostly sugar and caffine, both of which are not on a heart health diet, lol.
What kind of heart troubles does your friend have? I will second deaths recomendation of talking with his cardiologist. His Dr would be the only one who can say whether his condition is that bad that he should not smoke at all. If that's the case, he should ask about eatin it.


Heart

According to this, marijuana can increase resting heart rate by up to 27 bpm. It depends on dosage, and can vary between individuals. nevertheless, this is a fairly substantial increase--for the average 70bpm individual, mildly-to-somewhat strenuous exercise might produce a heart rate of about 115-130 bpm, and heavy exercise might get closer to 160 bpm.

So once again, this may or may not be dangerous to your friend. It's really hard to tell what with the barebones account of the facts and my lack of an M.D.

Thanks for the replies guys.
I'll talk to my friend about this situation a bit more and see whats up.
Cheers

Damian