Current and former pot smokers: No Cancer For You
- From: Sam <Sam@xxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 25 May 2006 00:35:58 GMT
http://www.cnn.com/2006/HEALTH/05/24/pot.lung.cancer.reut/index.html
Study finds no marijuana-lung cancer link
Wednesday, May 24, 2006; Posted: 2:11 p.m. EDT (18:11 GMT)
LOS ANGELES, California (Reuters) -- Marijuana smoking does not increase
a person's risk of developing lung cancer, according to the findings of
a new study at the University of California Los Angeles that surprised
even the researchers.
They had expected to find that a history of heavy marijuana use, like
cigarette smoking, would increase the risk of cancer.
Instead, the study, which compared the lifestyles of 611 Los Angeles
County lung cancer patients and 601 patients with head and neck cancers
with those of 1,040 people without cancer, found no elevated cancer risk
for even the heaviest pot smokers. It did find a 20-fold increased risk
of lung cancer in people who smoked two or more packs of cigarettes a
day.
The study results were presented in San Diego Tuesday at a meeting of
the American Thoracic Society.
The study was confined to people under age 60 since baby boomers were
the most likely age group to have long-term exposure to marijuana, said
Dr. Donald Tashkin, senior researcher and professor at the UCLA School
of Medicine.
The results should not be taken as a blank check to smoke pot, which has
been associated with problems including cognitive impairment and chronic
bronchitis, said Dr. John Hansen-Flaschen, chief of pulmonary and
critical care at the University of Pennsylvania Health System in
Philadelphia. He was not involved in the study.
Previous studies showed marijuana tar contained about 50 percent more of
the chemicals linked to lung cancer, compared with tobacco tar, Tashkin
said. In addition, smoking a marijuana joint deposits four times more
tar in the lungs than smoking an equivalent amount of tobacco.
"Marijuana is packed more loosely than tobacco, so there's less
filtration through the rod of the cigarette, so more particles will be
inhaled," Tashkin said in a statement. "And marijuana smokers typically
smoke differently than tobacco smokers -- they hold their breath about
four times longer, allowing more time for extra fine particles to
deposit in the lung."
He theorized that tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, a chemical in marijuana
smoke that produces its psychotropic effect, may encourage aging,
damaged cells to die off before they become cancerous.
Hansen-Flaschen also cautioned a cancer-marijuana link could emerge as
baby boomers age and there may be smaller population groups, based on
genetics or other factors, still at risk for marijuana-related cancers.
.
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