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. 2025 Apr 7;4(4):100343.
doi: 10.1016/j.focus.2025.100343. eCollection 2025 Aug.

The Association Between Marijuana Use and Myocardial Infarction, Asthma, and Depression in Racial and Sexual Minorities: BRFSS 2016-2022

Heather R Willmott  1 , Sixia Chen  1
Affiliations

The Association Between Marijuana Use and Myocardial Infarction, Asthma, and Depression in Racial and Sexual Minorities: BRFSS 2016-2022

Heather R Willmott et al. AJPM Focus. .

Abstract

Introduction: Marijuana-use patterns differ among racial and sexual minority groups, but few studies have examined health effects in these subgroups. The authors aimed to study the relationship between marijuana use and history of myocardial infarction, current asthma, and history of depression within racial and sexual subgroups.

Methods: Cross-sectional data from the 2016-2022 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System questionnaire was analyzed in April-December 2024. Current marijuana use was defined as at least 4 days of use within the past month. Weighted logistic regression assessed the unadjusted and covariate-adjusted associations between current marijuana use and myocardial infarction, asthma, and depression (overall and among subgroups).

Results: Marijuana use information was available for 729,240 individuals, of whom 44,555 (8.2%) were current marijuana users. Unadjusted, significant differences in the associations between marijuana use and myocardial infarction, asthma, and depression were found among racial and sexual orientation subgroups. After covariate adjustment, sexual orientation significantly modified the association between marijuana use and depression. In the covariate-adjusted models, marijuana use was associated with increased odds of myocardial infarction (OR=1.243, 95% CI=1.045, 1.478), asthma (OR=1.154, 95% CI=1.037, 1.285), and depression (OR=1.816, 95% CI=1.681, 1.963), although many of the associations with myocardial infarction and asthma were insignificant within subgroups.

Conclusions: Marijuana use was significantly associated with increased odds of history of depression, and sexual orientation modified this association. Significant, unadjusted, overall associations between marijuana use, previous myocardial infarction, and current asthma were found, but these associations were not typically significant after adjusting for covariates and looking within subgroups.

Keywords: Depression; asthma; marijuana use; myocardial infarction; race/ethnicity; sexual/gender minorities.

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