Posted on 08/01/2007 6:18:22 AM PDT by PreciousLiberty
Smoking a single joint of cannabis has the same impact on breathing capacity as up to five cigarettes, a new study shows.
The researchers say this may be because cannabis users tend to inhale more deeply and, because joints are smoked without a filter, the smoke is hotter when it hits the lungs.
Researchers from the Medical Research Institute of New Zealand publish their findings online in the journal Thorax.
Doctors recruited 339 volunteers who were divided into four categories: those who smoked only cannabis, those who smoked only tobacco, those who smoked both, and those who smoked neither.
Cannabis-only smokers were defined as those who had smoked the equivalent of at least one joint a day for five years; tobacco-only smokers were those who had smoked the equivalent of a packet of cigarettes a day for at least a year.
The participants were scanned by computed tomography (CT) to get a high-definition image of their lungs and were given tests to assess their airflow, or respiratory efficiency.
The researchers found the most serious damage in tobacco smokers - both tobacco-only and combined users - who were the only volunteers to have emphysema, a degenerative and crippling lung disease.
Cannabis smokers had lighter symptoms, such as wheeze, cough, chest tightness and phlegm, which tobacco smokers also had.
But the CT scan also revealed that, among cannabis smokers, fine damage had occurred to their lungs.
(Excerpt) Read more at abc.net.au ...
I've watched that happen with several friends of mine. They got to the point where all they could think of is where their next joint was coming from. Pity, too. They were really pretty bright kids with a lot of potential.
I've never seen any good come out of pot smoking.
Maybe they should outlaw cigarettes in groups of five.
How do you know that what was stated in the article are lies? What studies have you done? Your PhD is in what field?
Britian decriminalized cannabis possession a couple of years ago. They’re trying to get that reversed.
During the same period in the States, a famous labor leader (brain fart, can't remember his name) went on a campaign against drug use on the job. He went on a rampage against smoking opium, which was used almost exclusively by Chinese laborers. His problem was that smoking opium made the Chinese too productive, so that white workers couldn't compete.
Smoking opium was the object of the first drug laws in America. Somehow we survived without drug laws before then.
There has been so much dishonest government "research" on illegal drugs, that when another study comes out, I disbelieve it. Let's see if the studies can be duplicated, that's the key to honest science.
There is unfortunately a very strong innate need to control others, and use force doing so. Leaving people alone apparently just isn’t an option for most people.
I have really come to disklike drinking. Over the past couple of years a few glasses of wine at dinner is about the best I can do. Drinking beer just tastes bad these days.
As a former pot smoker, I would love to be able to sit down and just spark up once in a while. But alas, I cannot afford to take the legal risk and I sure don’t want to be THAT kind of role model to my teenage kids.
That said, I always felt that it should be legalized, taxed, and if you are caught driving on the stuff you should be tossed in jail—no questions, no break.
I think we are too focused on trying to prevent behavior that is personal, and too lenient on bad behanvior that impacts other’s rights and freedoms.
“I’ve watched that happen with several friends of mine. They got to the point where all they could think of is where their next joint was coming from. Pity, too. They were really pretty bright kids with a lot of potential.”
What age were they when they started? I made the point above that with any drug, use should be avoided before adulthood.
Also, many people seem to begin smoking pot like a drinker starting by shooting 15 shots of Cuervo, as well as indiscriminately mixing it with other substances. Education is a key ingredient in almost any activity.
5?! Pot must be getting smoother, they said it was 100 when I was in school, their big excuse was because you hold it in your lungs. Of course given that most of the pot smokers in my high school were also cigarette smokers it didn’t seem to bother anybody.
“So why do you consider them stating facts as alarmism?”
Be warned of a common substance that, when inhaled, can kill in quantities as small as a tablespoon. When ingested in sufficient quantities, it induces dementia, coma and death. It is commonly used to torture people and/or inflict great fear and pain.
Would you drink this substance? It’s water...
I think I’d be ok with legalized drugs and no helmet or seat belt laws, provided govt (that is, taxpayers) could not be required to foot any bills caused by the lifestyle choices people make. Until then, it is a tricky situation.
I had a masters in smoking the stuff and observing it worldwide quite a bit until a couple of decades ago.
I’d rather my kids abstain from dope but I would place occasional pot smoking...note I stress occasional....as the least dangerous drug...it is less dramatically abused than alcohol.
“I think I’d be ok with legalized drugs and no helmet or seat belt laws, provided govt (that is, taxpayers) could not be required to foot any bills caused by the lifestyle choices people make. Until then, it is a tricky situation.”
So you’d be OK with an immediate ban on alcohol and tobacco?
I despise the odor of MJ (I have smelled it in public). I don’t smoke tobacco, and cannot imagine ever smoking anything.
My exposure to people that smoked pot has not been good. I have nothing good to say about dope of any kind, even dope like MJ.
“Marijuana wreaks havoc on brain’s memory cells”
Speaking of prejudicial language...
Further, the subject of what an appropriate dose might be never seems to come up. lol
“The disruptive effect of THC wore off within a few hours. Robbe says he hopes to find out whether chronic exposure to the drug causes lasting effects on the hippocampus in rats. Scientists studying people have found that long-term marijuana users gradually become worse at learning and remembering things (see Pot-smoking your way to memory loss).”
This is an interesting area for research. However, no one seems too concerned about the long-term effects of alcohol use which most certainly include memory loss and dementia - the research has already been done there.
At any rate, dose and frequency of use are sure to play a role with cannabis, and such things are usually nonlinear. Plus there’s the thought that some research has shown that cannabis use may help prevent Alzheimer’s. Don’t make me find a link. ;–)
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