"I consider this study exploratory, by definition, because of the technique they used, sort of a shotgun approach," said Dr. Kenneth Mukamal, an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School who has studied the effects of marijuana use on cardiovascular disease. "They chose this protein out of a range of thousands of possibilities, so there is a chance you find something just by luck."

The effects of marijuana on the cardiovascular system are still uncertain, Mukamal said. "It has negative effects on heart rate and may even trigger heart attacks," he said. "But in mice, it apparently prevents atherosclerosis. Whether it is good or bad remains a question."

I've known more than a few people who lived into their 90's w/out being debilitated by one thing or another, & they all have a few things in common: They did whatever the fuck they wanted, when they wanted to, including drinking lots and smoking whatever they wanted, mostly unmixed and filtered, enjoyed heavy physical labor, & were all assholes who enjoyed themselves greatly at others' expense.   When are we gonna see some studies of assholery correlated with long-term health?  Or would that belong over in the "McCain is Old" thread?

I call bullshit. The National Institute of Drug Abuse has an agenda like most government agencies in the Bush era.    They are just fishing for a mechanism to explain the unclear link between ganja and heart attacks.  Besides, my lipid panel was great after 2 decades of heavy use.