Melanie Zamora
University of Miami
Co-Authors: Amrit Baral1, Bria-Necole Diggs1, Ranya Marrakchi El Fellah1, Kylee Krivijanski1, Varan Govind1, Claudia Martinez1, Denise C Vidot1
1University of Miami
Background: Cannabis and classic psychedelic use, especially psilocybin, is increasing along with the rising prevalence of high blood pressure (BP) among young adults. Despite these patterns, the combined and individual impact of cannabis and psilocybin consumption on abnormal BP is understudied.
Objective: To examine differences in abnormal BP status among cannabis-only consumers, cannabis and psilocybin (cannabis+psilocybin) consumers, and non-consumers in South Florida by age-group and sex.
Methods: The analytic sample (N=189) are 18-to-35-year-old participants of the Herbal Heart Study in South Florida with complete psilocybin, cannabis, and BP data. Psilocybin and cannabis consumption were self-reported based on lifetime use and past 30-days, via the Drug Use History Questionnaire managed via REDCap software. BP was taken three times following American Heart Association standardized guidelines; abnormal BP was defined as: ≥ 130mmHg systolic or ≥ 85mmHg diastolic. Descriptive statistics and Chi-squared tests were calculated by consumption group. Logistic regression adjusted by age and sex were used to test associations between cannabis, psilocybin use, and abnormal BP.
Results: Of the sample [mean age: 25.2 years (SD=4.8); 54.5% Hispanic/Latino; 64.5% female], 47.1% were cannabis-only consumers, 32.8% consumed a cannabis+psilocybin, and 20.1% were non-consumers. There was a significant difference in sex by consumption group (p=0.0139): a higher proportion of females were cannabis-only consumers (52.5%) compared to cannabis+psilocybin (25.4%), and non-consumers (22.1%). In contrast, among males, a majority were cannabis+psilocybin consumers (46.3%), followed by cannabis-only (46.3%) and non-consumers (16.2%). There was a higher proportion of cannabis+psilocybin consumers in the 27y+ age group (40.3%) compared to the 18-26y age group (29.1%) and no difference in age group (48.4% vs 46.7%) among cannabis consumers. More than half (53.9%) of participants with abnormal BP were cannabis-only consumers, followed by cannabis + psilocybin consumers (41.0%); non-consumers made up only 5.3% of those with abnormal BP (p=0.031). Cannabis-only consumers had six-times greater odds (AOR: 6.68, 95% CI: 1.37-32.6, p=0.02) of abnormal BP compared to non-consumers. There was no difference between cannabis+psilocybin consumers and non-consumers (AOR: 4.34, 95% CI: 0.87 – 21.6, p=0.07).
Conclusions: Cannabis-only consumers had over six-fold greater odds of abnormal BP than non-consumers. Future research should focus on the long-term cardiovascular effects of combined cannabis and psilocybin use.