Kevin Smith reveals how smoking weed may have saved his life during a heart attack
Filmmaker and actor Kevin Smith is notorious for his proclivities for smoking weed. His jovial outlook and larger than life personality has won the hearts of fans all over, but it's his outspoken advocacy for weed that has piqued the interest of the millennial generation, in particular.
Smith has made no secret of his love with the magical plant. The embargo on the plant is slowly being lifted across the country, and numerous studies have proven that there are umpteen medical benefits hidden away within its leafy confines. But if Smith is to be believed, smoking a doobie may have even saved his life.
In a recent interview with Stephen Colbert on 'The Late Show,' Smith incredulously revealed how being high out of his mind may have helped him survive the terrifying heart attack he suffered while filming for his comedy special 'Silent But Deadly.'
He explained: "I honestly thought I was too high. I’d smoked a bunch of weed that day because I was doing the show and then I smoked a joint right before the show and then I got off stage and all of a sudden I had a heart attack."
"They got me to the hospital and they wheel me into the emergency room and the whole time I’m chill. Like, the guy said, the paramedic, he goes, ‘You’re being real calm, that’s going to get you through this. And there’s a dude behind him goes, 'That’s what’s going to save his life," he continued.
Curious and wracked with guilt, he said he talked to his doctor about his weed-smoking habits: "I asked my doctor like after this was all done, I was like, 'I hate to ask this question, man, but did I have a heart attack because of the weed?''Because I smoked a joint right before the show.'"
To his surprise and joy, the cardiologist and general physician told him that smoking the cannabis might have saved his life 'because when you tell a person they’re having a heart attack … it’s compounding panic,' but Smith was 'stable as a table.'
"He goes, 'You kept calm. They told you you were having a massive heart attack. I just told you now. They told you were going through stuff and you remained calm the whole time, so that joint saved your life," to which Smith gleefully replied: "I was like, 'I’m putting that on a T-shirt.'"
The comedian has lost 32 pounds since the life-saving surgery but credits that to weed as well: "Weed kind of actually works, believe it or not, as an appetitive suppressant to some degree. I don’t get the munchies … It just didn’t have that effect on me. I would smoke instead of eating. That became gratifying. The same way that I need to feel good, I was like, 'You know what? I feel good smoking. Skip the cake and just have yourself a smoke.'"
