Study: Smoking Cannabis Causes Damage to Lungs

Reuters to My Yahoo! ^ | Patricia Reaney

[Pharmboy]

LONDON (Reuters) - Smoking cannabis is not the harmless recreational activity it may seem because it can cause lung damage, researchers said Friday.

Regularly smoking three or four joints a week, even for less than six years, can impair lung function and rob the body of antioxidants that protect cells against damage that can lead to heart disease and cancer.

"Smoking cannabis on a regular basis actually depletes your lung of protective antioxidant substances...and this may have chronic long-term implications for young individuals," said Dr Sarah Nuttall of the University of Birmingham in central England.

In a small study involving 20 people aged 19 to 30, including non-smokers and those who smoked tobacco and cannabis, Nuttall and her team took blood samples, measured lung function and tested for antioxidant markers. She presented the finding at a meeting of the British Thoracic Society in London.

"We found that smokers, compared to non-smokers, had impaired lung function," Nuttall said in an interview.

Cannabis smokers also had significantly lower levels of a protective antioxidant and nitric oxide, which is involved in lung function, than non-smokers.

"These findings are important in young individuals in which the use of cannabis is increasing and may have serious long-term implications for what is currently regarded as a relatively harmless recreational habit," she said.

Dr John Harvey, of the British Thoracic Society, called for more research into the effects of smoking on the lungs.

"It is vital that young people understand the dangers of both cigarette and cannabis smoking since these habits can start having a serious impact on their lungs at an early stage," he said in a statement.

Some European countries have taken a relaxed approach to cannabis use. Although it is technically illegal in the Netherlands, the drug can be bought and used in cannabis coffee shops in the country.

The Netherlands was also the first nation to make cannabis available as a prescription drug in pharmacies for chronically ill patients.

[Pharmboy]

Whew! X42's in no danger: he never inhaled...

[Gunslingr3]

News Flash: No one gets out alive...

[RebelBanker]

Well, DUH! Inhaling any type of smoke into your lungs is not good for you. Doesn't matter if the burning substance is tobacco, marijuana, wood or whatever. Ask any firefighter about the effects of smoke inhalation.

[laotzu]

Drinking to much water is bad for you.

We need a war on water. WOW

[Kenton]

Nah... uh-uh. I was gonna make a few wisecracks, but so few people who respond to these drug threads can take a joke..

[Quick1]

Now here's a solid argument for the continued legalization of marijuana.

/sarcasm

[Hillary's Lovely Legs]

There is a big difference between drinking water, which is vital to life, and sucking in burning leaves, which is nothing but blatant stupidity.

[Phantom Lord]

"We found that smokers, compared to non-smokers, had impaired lung function," Nuttall said in an interview.

Clearly this person is on the payroll of the nicotine nazi's and making these absurd claims because of it.

[Quick1]

Er, that should be criminalization. I must have been high.

[Gunslingr3]

There is a big difference between drinking water, which is vital to life, and sucking in burning leaves, which is nothing but blatant stupidity.

Drinking yeast pee is pretty damn stupid too, but it would be even more stupid to make it illegal again...

[Quick1]

Good thing the government is here to protect me from being stupid.

[HELLRAISER II]

Not leaves, buds.

[AD from SpringBay]

Well golly! You mean to tell me that smoking hurts your lungs? Whoda thunkit? Glad to know we're not the only group of people who waste money on studies like this.

[RebelBanker]

Then again, should blatant stupidity be against the law?

BTW, you have a really interesting tag line! Reference?

[tacticalogic]

I like doing metal work as a hobby. Does this mean I should give up "recreational arc welding"?

[mtbopfuyn]

We found that smokers, compared to non-smokers, had impaired lung function

Ya think?!?

[laotzu]

Drink too much, and you will drown. Dead is dead.

[goseminoles]

"said Dr Sarah Nuttall of the University of Birmingham in central England"


oh, those brits....

[Wheee The People]

I hope someone didn't PAY for this study.

[Hillary's Lovely Legs]

It's from Woody Allen. I just heard it briefly as I was flipping channels. It fits my philosophy of life.