Marijuana Back in the News By Dr. Evelyn Higgins

Several weeks ago, I wrote about Oaksterdam University in Los Angeles offering a medicinal marijuana course, which prepares students to enter the lucrative multibillion-dollar industry - on the legal side, that is. Well, a new study just released this week may have an effect on enrollment due to the fact that it has been suggested that marijuana users may have a shorter life expectancy after suffering a heart attack than people who do not use the drug. When we target a specific generation - the baby boomers that have many long time marijuana users to claim - it gets very interesting. A 2002 national study found that the number of 45 to 64-year-olds who reported marijuana use was three times higher than it had been earlier! Wow, three times higher! This same age group is also increasing their risk for the number one killer in America, which is cardiovascular disease. Regular marijuana smokers are two to four times as likely to die from a heart attack within four years of having the attack compared to non-marijuana smokers. Obviously the study raises concern, which needs to be studied further, but let's see what the Valedictorian from Oaksterdam has to say.... [more...]