Abrupt Quitting of Long-term Heavy Recreational Cannabis Use is Not Followed by Significant Changes in Blood Pressure and Heart Rate

Objective: To shed more light on the role of heart rate and blood pressure during cannabis withdrawal. Methods: Post-hoc analysis of data collected during a prospective inpatient monitoring of withdrawal symptoms of 39 (8 female) adult (median 27 year old) treatment-seeking, predominantly white cannabis-dependents (Bonnet et al., Drug Alcohol Depend 2014; 143: 189-97). Beyond tobacco smoking, the body mass index, electrocardiogram and routine laboratory results were considered to estimate the cohort's risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD). Results: Abrupt cessation of recreational long-term daily cannabis use was not followed by significant changes in heart rate, blood and pulse pressure. Also, these measures were not significantly correlated with the severity of the cannabis withdrawal syndrome. The cohort's risk for CVD was moderate (all tobacco using, overweight in 9 of 35 patients and elevation of serum C-reactive protein in many patients). Its metabolic risk for CVD was minor considering the mostly normal blood pressure, normal serum lipids and glucose. Discussion: This merely minor metabolic risk might have contributed to the missing effects of cannabis cessation on the basic cardiovascular functions.