My take on the passive effects of being near Cannabis

[pottypete1]

I replied earlier to the other post with the link to a study on the effects of recreational drugs. However I came a bit late to the thread so decided to repost.

Unfortunately I recently had first hand experience of being in close proximity of Cannabis.

We had a rare visit to my sister in law a couple of weeks ago. We have not done this for some time because of Covid and other personal issues but we wanted to support her as she wanted to scatter the ashes of her son who had committed suicide some years ago and were still in her possession.

My sister in law has issues with alcohol and she also smokes Cannabis and tobacco. 

Unfortunately she is also very inconsiderate and whilst we were in her living room with her she proceeded to roll a Cannabis joint. I had never experienced this before even though I am now 75 years old and grew up in the “swinging”60s. The preparation ritual involves grinding the drug and mixing it with tobacco and then rolling into a large "fag paper".

My sister in law did not light the joint indoors but the smell caused by the preparation was overpowering and immediately my normally Bradycardic heart started to gallop and I experienced palpitations. I said nothing.

Some of you will know that I have a history of AF going back over 30 years and that my AF is now largely under control after numerous ablations.

However I felt really nauseous and generally awful and I decided to go into the garden.

She then came into the garden and things got worse because she then lit the joint. I cannot express how nauseous and unwell I felt with just this pacif encounter.

We very soon left and went home without making any comment. It took about half an hour for my heart to return to some form of normality.

My unsurprising conclusion is that it would not be a good idea for anyone with a heart arrhythmia problem to use these substances.

But I think most of us knew that already.

Pete

[Bagrat]

I too grew up ( rather quickly!) in the 60s but never dabbled even in soft drugs apart from generous amounts of alcohol.

Sorry to hear of your experience and hope it was just the THC element whoch these days is much stronger than in olden days.

Our lovely Health food shop owner says CBD oil has not been tested with anticoagulants yet so she says its a no for me.

Good CBD has a very tiny amount of THC not enough to make you high, just sufficient to potentiate it. Sounds like you are very sensitive to it.

[pottypete1 in reply to Bagrat]

I am sensitive I admit it but I don’t think it cannot be good for anyone with rhythm problems.

Pete

[greg35]

HI Pete I also had a similar experience after going into a room in my sisters house where her son and his friends were smoking cannibas, the room was like a fog, as soon as I started breathing my ectopic heartbeats went crazy with a very fast heart rate also, my sister thought it was just psychological, but I know my own body, I would be terrified to try cannibas although some would say its a relaxant and could help, not for me!

[pottypete1 in reply to greg35]

I am sure we are not alone.

I too had ectopics and felt so unwell. I used have a bad reaction to normal cigarette smoke when visiting my late mother in law but nothing like as bad as it was when I encountered Cannabis recently.

I won’t be visiting again any time soon.

Pete

[Mugsy15 in reply to greg35]

no wonder society is in such a mess when teenagers are openly smoking joints with their parents' consent. If either of my sons had done that their backsides would have been bouncing down the drive.

[pottypete1 in reply to Mugsy15]

My sister in law is 63 so is not always the young who use these substances.

Pete

[reinaway in reply to pottypete1]

Our neighbours are Goths and smoke cannabis in their garden in all weather's. I have to shut all the doors and windows as the smell is unbearable.

[Morzine]

it’s much stronger these days so I’m not surprised

Sue

[riffjack846]

I wouldn't think just the smell of cannabis unless burning could trigger your episode. I would probably consider the anxiety/stress of seeing her do it and the resulting adrenaline rush the culprit.

[pottypete1 in reply to riffjack846]

It was definitely the smell. It doesn’t have to be burning to be very pungent.

[EngMac]

I read in a recent study that cannabis may increase the chance of getting AF by 35%. If this is the case it might be food for thought.