Press Release: New study – Cannabis causes exponential rise in ‘hole in the heart’

A new study co-authored by Dr. Stuart Reece shows that cannabis causes a birth defect called Atrial Septal Defect (ASD), or a hole in the heart.

Rates have increased from 10.3 cases in every 10,000 in births in 2005 to 884 cases per 10,000 births in some US states in 2020, or 1 in 11 babies affected.

Because many common birth defects lead to pregnancy termination, whereas ASD generally doesn't, ASD may be the "canary in the coal mine, signaling not only the likely involvement of cannabis in other birth defects but that these rises in ASD rates are the bellwether marker for other cannabinoid genotoxic effects including human aging and some cancers."

Read full press release published by Drug Free Australia on News Hub.

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For study details and results, see:

Impact of Cannabis and Cannabis Legalization on US Atrial Septal Defect Rates

Published in the Journal of Xenobiotics

Cannabinoid impacts on ethnic modulation of atrial septal defect prevalence USA

Published in the Journal of Perinatology, a Nature journal

Space-Time Analysis of Burgeoning US Atrial Septal Defect Rates Driven by Cannabis

Published in the Journal of Xenobiotics