The case for keeping weed illegal continues to mount, even as laws loosen.

A new peer-reviewed study (in a large data set of almost 60,000 Canadians) has shown that adults who misuse pot have a 60% higher risk of having their first heart attack, stroke or other cardiovascular event important

In other words: Weed’s no a harmless vice.

It’s a killer, like cigarettes.

And unlike cigarettes, it literally drives people crazy.

A massive Danish study based on almost 7 million health records established a strong correlation between heavy cannabis use and increased risk of schizophrenia in young men.

That’s to say nothing of the fact that pot, no matter what its proponents say, likely serves as a gateway drug: Evidence suggests a link between cannabis use in children and subsequent opioid use, and the drug may play a role in rewiring reward circuits in young brains.

Or the rising levels of THC, the psychoactive chemical in weed, seen since the 1990s.

As the use becomes more widespread, in other words, the drug becomes more and more powerful.

Given the securitism that defines modern progressive politics, the crusade to legalize weed (and normalize it!) is odd in light of the mounting evidence that it’s a terrible idea for health reasons.

With macabre humor, if not intended, New York City’s own Department of Health warns “Avoid smoking cannabis rolled or mixed with tobacco” because “there is no safe amount of tobacco use.”

And in big cities like New York, letting people rise up in the streets adds to the social decay caused by the withdrawal of police and convictions for more serious crimes.

As does the proliferation of clearly illegal weed shops here.

Almost a third of adults under 35 regularly smoke weed; almost 70% of Americans support legalization, despite everything.

They need to wake up and smell the heavy smoke before the next big drug crisis hits.