Cannabis health dangers 'underestimated'

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Interesting article:

Allthough a lot of the pro-cannabis organizations are full of BS (they claim that it's some miracle drug that's without side effects and can cure everything), I'd say that it should still be gradually legalized.

With that being said, the same rules that apply to alcohol should also apply to cannabis (eg. laws agains driving stoned, being stoned in public and so on).

If it were legal, and people were able to purchase processed cannabis, smoking would be completely unnecessary and most of the arguments against cannabis based on carcinogenic status would dry up. Since they are essentially arguments more against smoking and the respiratory effects it has than THC itself

<----- Allergic to the stuff.

Considering it's already been proven that smoking cannabis is not as harmful as smoking cigarettes, I am going to have to assume that article may be a little out of date or at least the facts in it are out of date. They actually did a study that indicates people who smoke tobacco and cannabis are less likely to get cancer than those who just smoke tobacco. Cannabanoids and carcinogens don't get along too well so there you have it.

Smoking cannabis can still do respitory damage but as far as any studies it does not cause cancer..and in fact might even have properties that fight cancer though there is not a whole lot of research about it yet. Also can someone show me some report or study or something that shows someone who just smokes cannabis getting lung cancer?

maybe I will read the rest of the article just for kicks and giggles though.

This article is a farce. It is intentionally trying to confuse "cannabis" with "smoking cannabis". Notice how the article switches from one to the other as if they are the same thing.

I find dealing with people who are stoned much easier than people who are drunk. Instead of publishing warnings about the health dangers of pot, let's pay stricter attention to the dangers poised by alcohol.

I'm a bit of a heretic among my medical colleagues in that I'm pretty laissez-faire about marijuana.

My biggest worries for the cannabis smoker are COPD, immunosuppression, and heart disease. Pretty much in that order. The big-C doesn't really enter the picture--but I suspect my oncology contacts might have different ideas which I am not well placed to contradict.

Among respiratory patients, I read the the Riot Act--smoking anything, whether tobacco or cannabis is a really, really dumb idea when your lung capacity is threatened. Most of my patients have active pulmonary tuberculosis, and as far as I am concerned smoking anything is strictly verboten.

Among immune comprimised patients I'm pretty hard assed about this sort of stuff, too. After the brain, the next largest concentration of cannabinoid receptors is found among the cells of the immune system. When cannabinoids bind to the receptors, the cell's natural function is impaired. So if you're immune system is working sub-par, you really don't want to start stretching it even thinner. With these patients I go beyond smoking--any ingestion method can aggravate problems. This is a particularly difficult balance for patients on chemotherapy. While marijuana is effective as an appetite stimulant and in mitigating effects of chemo, it can further suppress an immune system already under threat.

But by and large, if patients with healthy lungs and immune systems tell me they're going to smoke tobacco or weed, I tell them to be sensible.

The real problem I see with marijuana is that it generally smoked in an unfiltered state, so everything that is being burned is being ingested. If you're smoking "organic" weed or weed produced in an indoor "grow-op", then might avoid pesticide residue. But almost all marijuana cultivation is heavily fertilized with artificial fertilizers, and only a minority of small growers are conscientious about flushing. And even the cleanest, most organic product still introduces ash residue into the lungs. The filters of most cigarettes provide a buffer (though the cynic in me suspects that this is really about getting people to smoke more of them).

Other methods of ingestion are vastly preferable, from a health perspective, than smoking. Make brownies, or take it orally in some other fashion.

It's BS for a number of reasons. As said, you don't have to smoke it and the problem with cigarettes is that people smoke a pack a day for 30 years. People don't smoke pot like that. Nicotine is actually addicting and much more dangerous to your health as a result.

I don't buy any studies on what's healthy and not healthy anymore. Most of it is 100% agenda driven and there is another study that completely contradicts it. We know a lot less than we actually think we know.

Good Lord, sweetleaf, you're 22.

You could probably smoke tupperware right now and get away with it. You're not going to start seeing the negative health impacts of your choices for some time yet. Diet and exercise issues will probably be first, since putting on weight is a positive function (storing up the energy you don't need now against a time when you will need it later). But in time the degenerative issues will come, and their timing and aggressiveness will be influenced by the choices that you are making.

Which doesn't mean that you always have to make the "healthier" choice. Screw that. Living is about quality of life, not quantity. But neither is it a license to ignore good sense.

If you want a joint now and then, smoke a joint. If you want a joint twice a day, though, think about whether there's a better way.

Some people do try to put cigarette filters into joints, but I have heard bad things about this. I also tried it once and did not like the results at all. Apparently the THC in the smoke sticks to the material inside, causing it to smolder, thus leading to your inhaling extra crap rather than reducing it.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to suggest any interaction between cannabis and other lifestyle impacts.

All I mean is that for most people, the first impact that they see in their bodies from their lifestyle choices is in their weight. Metabolism will generally slow down (though the impact varies from person to person) and if diet and exercise habits don't keep up, then the body is going to start, "putting stuff aside for winter." Blood pressure and blood chemistry issues come next, and then the big ticket items like cancer and degenerative conditions even later.

And I mean it when I say that life is about quality, not quantity. If marijuana is the only thing that works then so be it. But it might be worth a conversation about looking at alternatives, over time. Or not. That's up to you.