The Letter to the Colossians this Sunday encourages the reader to give thanks to God “who has made you fit to share in the inheritance of the holy ones in light.” Though five more states legalized recreational marijuana use last week, potential users might want to pause to consider new research that suggests that marijuana may be unfit for human consumption, weakening heart muscles and potentially leading to stress cardiomyopathy, also known as “broken heart syndrome." Tokers were significantly more likely than nonusers to go into cardiac arrest or need correction to abnormal heart rhythms, researchers say.

Stress cardiomyopathy mimics signs of a heart attack, resulting in chest pain, shortness of breath, dizziness, and sometimes fainting. Dr Amitoj Singh, from St. Luke's University in Pennsylvania, who co-led the study, says: "The effects of marijuana, especially on the cardiovascular system, are not well known yet. With its increasing availability and legalization in some states, people need to know that marijuana may be harmful to the heart and blood vessels in some people."

The researchers analyzed data from 33,343 Americans who were hospitalized with stress cardiomyopathy between 2003 and 2011. After taking a range of risk factors into account, the study showed that cannabis users were almost twice as likely to develop stress cardiomyopathy than nonusers.

Cannabis users were also more likely to have a history of tobacco use, depression, psychosis, anxiety disorder, alcoholism, or multiple substance abuse. “If you are using marijuana and develop symptoms such as chest pain and shortness of breath, you should be evaluated by a healthcare provider to make sure you aren't having stress cardiomyopathy or another heart problem," says Singh. The research was presented several months ago at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions meeting in New Orleans.

Dr. Ann Bolger, a professor of clinical medicine at the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine and a spokeswoman for the American Heart Association, says that that other forms of drug abuse can contribute to stress cardiomyopathy among cannabis users. "It's hard to know exactly that you can account for all of these other contributors" when determining causation of the condition, she says. Bolger agrees with the overall concern raised by the new study. "It does give me some very appropriate worry that exposure to (marijuana) may not be as benign as some people seem to think."

The most surprising finding from the study was that the marijuana users in the study were the opposite of the people that “broken heart syndrome” tends to strike in several ways, says Singh. Typically, the condition tends to develop in post-menopausal women. But in the study, the marijuana users who developed “broken heart syndrome” were 44 years old, on average, and 36 percent were men. Among the non-marijuana users in the study who developed the syndrome, the average age was 66, and just 8 percent were men.

Lessons drawn from the readings

While it’s clear that sending people to jail for possession of a small amount of marijuana has been counterproductive, we should pause on the road to widespread legalization and casual use of the drug—of any drug, for that matter. Aside from the potential health risks, we should ponder the question—what is it about modern life that drives so many to use mind-altering drugs? If so many are so unhappy as to ingest chemical agents to feel better, what we have is a crisis of meaning and purpose, a profound spiritual crisis.

Final thought in light of the news

“With its increasing availability and legalization in some states, people need to know that marijuana may be harmful to the heart and blood vessels in some people,” says Singh. Is there someone in your life who is or might be smoking marijuana? You owe it to loved ones to alert them to the research. Just as there is no such thing as a free lunch, there is no such thing as a “harmless” drug.