BISMARCK, N.D. (KFYR) – A new study says older adults who don’t smoke tobacco products but do smoke marijuana are at a higher risk of having a cardiac problem.

Dr. Alfredo Iardino, a pulmonologist at CHI St. Alexius, said smoking marijuana is pretty common among oil workers, who make up a sizable portion of our state’s workforce. He said most of the workers he’s seen who have smoked weed are around 18 years old.

“We’ve had patients, they are 40 and 50–which is young–and they just say, ‘Oh, I used to smoke marijuana.’ And then you see the lungs and one of the lungs is completely destroyed,” Dr. Iardino said.

Dr. Karol Kremens, a pulmonologist at Essentia Health, said one reason we’re seeing more marijuana-related complications is due to its legalization for medical use.

“We’re in this process of finding out that yes, smoking marijuana, even though it contains less tar substances than nicotine and cigarettes, it contains enough of them to cause similar problems. Now, will it cause cancer? We don’t know yet because there hasn’t been enough time, but we’re already seeing patients who smoke a lot, and they experience reduced lung function,” Dr. Kremens said.

Dr. Kremens said if you’re using marijuana legally, a safer alternative to smoking it is to use edibles. Marijuana is only legal for medicinal use in North Dakota.

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