The medical community appears to be speaking with one voice.

The legalization of cannabis for recreational use apparently is an idea whose time has come.

How else can one explain the number of states, like Illinois, that have legalized the product and laid the groundwork for its wide availability?

Well, there is the tax money that public officials fervently pray will bail governmental entities out of their financial woes. Unwise criminal laws also drove the legalization bandwagon.

But the proliferating use of cannabis — particularly the more powerful varieties — is not the financial and social panacea some claim.

There are legitimate public-health concerns that ought to serve as warnings to consumers.

That explains a recent headline in the British Medical Journal — “Cannabis use linked to doubled risk of cardiovascular disease death.”

An article in the journal stated that cardiovascular issues “significantly” heighten the “risks of having a stroke or acute coronary syndrome — sudden reduced or blocked blood flow to the heart.”

It attributed that conclusion to a “pooled analysis of real-world data, published online in the journal Heart.”

Whenever warnings of this type are made public, the usual suspects — marijuana true believers — rush forward to denounce those spreading the word as equivalent to the “Reefer Madness” hysterics of yore who grossly exaggerated the dangers of marijuana.

Misinformation on one side of the issue then plays a big role in misinformation on the other side of the issue now.

But the authors of the study aren’t calling for criminalization of cannabis. Instead, they suggest more thoughtful consideration about using it and being around it.

They propose treating cannabis like tobacco, “actively discouraged, with protection of bystanders from secondhand vapor inhalation.”

Everyone knows about the health dangers attributed to tobacco. Indeed, cigarette consumption, once pervasive throughout society, has declined to record lows among adults.

Why not take the same cautious approach to marijuana?

Well, there is the tax revenue. That top government priority precludes government officials from adopting the role of public health advocate on the cannabis issue.

People are going to think for themselves.

Medical researchers are helping. The British Medical Journal’s report is just the latest in a series of warnings.

Health experts say cannabis is not only a threat to physical health but also mental health, particularly for young people.

The New England Journal of Medicine outlined the threat of “mental illness and cognitive difficulties” in an article headlined “Cannabis Related Disorders and Toxic Effect.”

Too many people, particularly impulsive and immature young people, dismiss warnings like these. But there are real issues here, and studies like one from the British Medical Journal are worthy of consideration.