Smoking Marijuana Does Not Cause Lung Cancer

[dreamdancer 0]

interesting...

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One in three Americans will be afflicted with cancer, we are told by the government (as if it’s our immutable fate and somehow acceptable). Cancer is the second-leading cause of death in the U.S. and lung cancer the leading killer among cancers.

You’d think it would have been very big news in June 2005 when UCLA medical school professor Donald Tashkin reported that components of marijuana smoke -- although they damage cells in respiratory tissue -- somehow prevent them from becoming malignant. In other words, something in marijuana exerts an anti-cancer effect!

Tashkin has special credibility. He was the lead investigator on studies dating back to the 1970s that identified the components in marijuana smoke that are toxic. It was Tashkin et al. who published photomicrographs showing that marijuana smoke damages cells lining the upper airways. It was the Tashkin lab’s finding that benzpyrene -- a component of tobacco smoke that plays a role in most lung cancers -- is especially prevalent in marijuana smoke. It was Tashkin’s data showing that marijuana smokers are more likely than non-smokers to cough, wheeze, and produce sputum.

Tashkin reviewed his findings in April 2008, at a conference organized by “Patients Out of Time,” a reform group devoted to educating doctors and the public (as opposed to lobbying politicians). Some 30 MDs and nurses got continuing medical education credits for attending the event, which was held at Asilomar, on the Monterey Peninsula.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse, which supported Tashkin’s marijuana-related research over the decades, readily gave him a grant in 2002 to conduct a large, population-based, case-controlled study that would prove definitively that heavy, long-term marijuana use increases the risk of lung and upper-airways cancers.

What Tashkin and his colleagues found, however, disproved their hypothesis. (Tashkin is to marijuana as a cause of lung cancer what Hans Blix was to Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction -- an honest investigator who set out to find something, concluded that it wasn’t there, and reported his results.)

Tashkin’s team interviewed 1,212 cancer patients from the Los Angeles County Cancer Surveillance program, matched for age, gender, and neighborhood with 1,040 cancer-free controls. Marijuana use was measured in “joint years” (number of years smoked times number of joints per day).

It turned out that increased marijuana use did not result in higher rates of lung and pharyngeal cancer, whereas tobacco smokers were at greater risk the more they smoked. Tobacco smokers who also smoked marijuana were at slightly lower risk of getting lung cancer than tobacco-only smokers.

http://www.alternet.org/drugreporter/142271/smoking_marijuana_does_not_cause_lung_cancer/

stay away from moving propellers - they bite
blue skies from thai sky adventures
good solid response-provoking keyboarding

[Rookie120 0]

I didn't even read the article because I can guess who wrote it. But from the title sounds like bullshit. You are inhaling smoke? How is that not harmful to your body. I really don't give a shit what it does. If you want to smoke go ahead. But don't sit there and tell me it doesn't harm your lungs or cause cancer.

If you find yourself in a fair fight, your tactics suck!

[marks2065 0]

It didn't say it doesn't harm your lungs it actually said it does harm your lungs. It also said that it stops malignancy.

[SpeedRacer 1]

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It didn't say it doesn't harm your lungs it actually said it does harm your lungs. It also said that it stops malignancy.

what he said. You might want to read the article before commenting.

Marijuana definitely does scar lung tissue though. And it contains carbon monoxide which binds to your hemoglobin. But it is true that causing malignancy is an entirely different thing. I'm still surprised though. One thing about tobacco smoking vs marijuana smoking: Tobacco smokers smoke cigarrettes regularly all day long. I'm not sure how many marijuana smokers would do that with marijuana. Usually they just spark up in the evening, take several puffs, and they're done.

I don't know how many people would smoke weed the way smokers smoke cigs.

Speed Racer
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[NelKel 0]

I don't know how many people would smoke weed the way smokers smoke cigs<<<

We could start a poll and maybe get an idea?

_________________________________________

Someone dies, someone says how stupid, someone says it was avoidable, someone says how to avoid it, someone calls them an idiot, someone proposes rule chan

[GeorgiaDon 340]

If they're smoking weed the way smokers smoke cigarettes, I don't want them anywhere near a DZ. If they're going to answer a poll here, I hope their jumping days are in the past.

Don

_____________________________________
Tolerance is the cost we must pay for our adventure in liberty. (Dworkin, 1996)
“Education is not filling a bucket, but lighting a fire.” (Yeats)

[riddler 0]

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We could start a poll and maybe get an idea?

People who smoke pot: how often do you smoke cigarettes?

1) All the time
2) Some of the time
3) My short-term memory is shot - what was the question, again?
4) Dude, I'm REALLY hungry

Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

[kmfenaughty 0]

Yea .. but it does have other socially unacceptable side effects ... rumor has it that if you DON'T inhale ... you get an insatiable desire for oral sex and cigars

Just another in the long list of lies so we can continue spending billions on the "war on drugs" ... I don't know about anyone else but when I see a big bust of marijauna smokers I feel safer

Same old BS ... just follow the MONEY

99% of the people on this earth are sheep ... dare to be different

[Kennedy 0]

Whoopie. Tobacco smoke is not particularly harmful either. However, cigarettes, rolling paper, and other assorted accessories have dangerous substances in them that will cause cancer (according to studies). And since most marijuana is smoked out of rolling paper, emptied blunts, or in a bowl or bong with a bic-style light, they get all the nasty side effects that tobacco smokers get.

Of course, there have been studies that show drinking orange juice causes cancer, so take from them what you will...

witty subliminal message
Guard your honor, let your reputation fall where it will, and outlast the bastards.
1*

[riddler 0]

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Tobacco smoke is not particularly harmful either. However, cigarettes, rolling paper, and other assorted accessories have dangerous substances in them that will cause cancer (according to studies).

Tobacco smoke contains over 4,000 different chemicals. At least 50 are known carcinogens and many are poisonous. The majority of this comes from the refined tobacco in cigarettes, and less comes from wrappings, filters, etc. One issue has been the hybridization of tobacco into it's current form, which has increased the harmful chemicals. But tobacco smoke IS particularly harmful when used over a long period.

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Of course, there have been studies that show drinking orange juice causes cancer, so take from them what you will...

Incorrect. This is repetition of the musings of the RJ Reynolds PR department, and has no basis in fact. These are the same people that brainstormed the "smoking is healthier than breathing auto pollution" nonsense.

Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

[dreamdancer 0]

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Whoopie. Tobacco smoke is not particularly harmful either. However, cigarettes, rolling paper, and other assorted accessories have dangerous substances in them that will cause cancer (according to studies). And since most marijuana is smoked out of rolling paper, emptied blunts, or in a bowl or bong with a bic-style light, they get all the nasty side effects that tobacco smokers get.

Of course, there have been studies that show drinking orange juice causes cancer, so take from them what you will...

vaporizers are becoming more popular which cuts out most of the nasty carcinogens

stay away from moving propellers - they bite
blue skies from thai sky adventures
good solid response-provoking keyboarding

[rehmwa 2]

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Of course, there have been studies that show drinking orange juice causes cancer, so take from them what you will...

vaporizers are becoming more popular which cuts out most of the nasty carcinogens

although vaporizing orange juice sounds interesting, I like it better blended with rum and ice cream

...
Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants

[Misternatural 0]

>although vaporizing orange juice sounds interesting,

Now that's funny

Beware of the collateralizing and monetization of your desires.
D S #3.1415

[dreamdancer 0]

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Of course, there have been studies that show drinking orange juice causes cancer, so take from them what you will...

vaporizers are becoming more popular which cuts out most of the nasty carcinogens

although vaporizing orange juice sounds interesting, I like it better blended with rum and ice cream

i just like it fresh

stay away from moving propellers - they bite
blue skies from thai sky adventures
good solid response-provoking keyboarding

[Kennedy 0]

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although vaporizing orange juice sounds interesting, I like it better blended with rum and ice cream

Good answer!

witty subliminal message
Guard your honor, let your reputation fall where it will, and outlast the bastards.
1*