Marijuana use does not increase cancer risk: study
www.chinaview.cn 2006-05-25 09:11:34

Smoking marijuana does not increase the risk of lung cancer and other cancers such as cancer of the head and neck, a U.S. study has found.
BEIJING, May 25 (Xinhuanet) -- Heavy use of marijuana does not increase the risk of lung cancer, according to a study that surprised the researchers in California.

Even among those heavy, long-term marijuana users, the risk of head and neck cancers including cancer of the tongue, mouth, throat and esophagus does not seem elevated compared with that in those who did not smoke, the study concludes.

The findings shocked the researchers as they had expected the heavy marijuana users would have to face an increased risk of cancer.

Donald Tashkin, M.D., Professor of Medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA in Los Angeles and colleagues conducted the study of 611 Los Angeles County lung cancer patients, 601 patients with head and neck cancers and 1,040 people without cancer.

They found no increased cancer risk for even the heaviest pot smokers. People who smoked more marijuana did not seem to have a higher risk than those who smoked less or none.

However, the study did find that 80 percent of lung cancer cases and 70 percent of patients with cancer of the head and neck had smoked tobacco, indicating smoking tobacco is linked with cancer risk.

People who smoked two or more packs of cigarettes a day faced a 20-fold increased risk of developing lung cancer. There is also a dose-response correlation between tobacco smoking and risk of lung cancer and head and neck cancers.

The current findings regarding the link between marijuana smoke and cancer is contradictory to previous studies in which other researchers found marijuana abuse has the potential to increase the risk of cancer of the lungs and other parts of the respiratory tract because it contains irritants and carcinogens.

An earlier study concludes that marijuana smoking doubled or tripled the risk of developing cancer of the head or neck.

The current findings are surprising also because marijuana users usually inhale more deeply and hold their breath longer than tobacco smokers do, which increases the lungs' exposure to carcinogenic smoke.

Tashkin said one possible explanation is that tetrahydrocannabinol(THC), a chemical in marijuana smoke, may encourage aging cells to die earlier than normal, reducing the likelihood that they'll transform into cancer cells.

Despite the new findings, experts warn, people should stay away from marijuana because smoking marijuana can cause other problems such as respiratory problems, loss of motor skills and increased heart rate. Enditem

(Agencies)

Who, besides hard core rastafarians smoke 40 joints a day? Many also use waterpipes which filter some of the crap out.

Classifying it as a Schedule I drug is assinine and entirely political.

i love anyone who gives me this sort of info about mari. mari and i have been married for a while now and we were rethinking our position due to the health hazards. funny how things turn out, eh?

In 1908, researchers tried to determine what the fatal dose of marijuana was, using 25-pound dogs as test subjects.

"At the beginning of our observations careful search of the literature on the subject was made to determine the toxicity of the hemp. Not a single case of fatal poisoning have we been able to find reported, although often alarming symptoms may occur. A dog weighing 25 pounds received an injection of two ounces of an active U.S.P. fluid extract in the jugular vein with the expectation that it would certainly be sufficient to produce death. To our surprise, the animal, after being unconscious for about a day and a half, recovered completely. This dog received not alone the active constituents of the drug but also the amount of alcohol contained in the fluid extract. Another dog received about 7 grammes of Solid Extract Cannabis with the same result. We have never been able to give an animal a sufficient quantity of a U.S. P. or other preparation of the Cannabis (Indica or Americana) to produce death."

Solid Extract Cannabis is also known as hashish. Seven grammes = 1/4 oz.

George how come I'm not shocked that you'd be weighing in on this...

"The David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA in Los Angeles"

If this is who I think it is...they're naming hospitals after a guy who gave us Ashie Simpson???

Grab the bong because these people must have been high!!!

"George how come I'm not shocked that you'd be weighing in on this."

I wrote: "In 1908, researchers tried to determine what the fatal dose of marijuana was, using 25-pound dogs as test subjects."

This is a fact.

The rest is a quote from the linked article, which was a report from the pharmaceutical company Parke Davis, conducting research in an attempt to prove American Cannabis was just as effective as the Indian variety.

More facts.

Why is it that I'm not shocked that you would criticize my opinion when I didn't offer one? If you want to debate the point that I didn't bring up, go ahead, but you've become so tedious in such a brief time span that I cannot afford to waste any more time on you.

Look up the LD50 for cannabis in the PDR, it says unknown. I can think of no other drug that does not have a lethal dose.

Skunk and superskunk do my head in. I was thinking of growing my own milder form. I just like a light buzz not to be zonked into oblivion. I get really paranoid too on skunk.

Isn't David Geffin a republican?

And it's still illegal, why?

if anything it's tobacco which should be illegal (which will never happen)

If they keep this up, they may just legalize it some day.... I don't ''indulge'' anymore but am not against anyone else's need to ''light up''...

I always put it in the same catagory as booze... as far as effect, and thought it should be sold the same way...

In Michigan (home of Ann Arbor's Hash Bash) Norml had missed legalizing marijuana for recerational usage by 800 signatures on a petition. A republican had figured a plan that would limit the usage, sell and possesion like alcohol and/or tobbaco (Im too stoned to remember which one...) It was a democrap who insisted the signatures be tallied, bringing the number down to 800 short instead of the almost double of what was needed. Seems one has to be registered to vote to sign a petition.
Get off yer stoned butt and register to vote now.

I think that it's Trans fats that are the culprite, not saturated fats. But this is not a health page.

But just because saturated fats may actually be good for you, does this mean that I am going to chow down on burgers and Pizza again? No. I'll stick to veggies, eggs, and fish.

"Isn't David Geffin a republican?"

Nahh only Democrats could be dumping all this crappy music on the American public.

Some kind of Left-wing conspiracy I suppose.

After all The GOP have Britney Spears...what the hell would they need one more idiot with Drunky Simpson.

Have to say though that the way Spears is handling that kid lately, her next hit will be something like
“Hit The Baby One More Time”

Thank God Larry that no matter how much you and I try to assimilate...Where never going to called

white trash.....

We're never going to be called

white trash.....

Nevermind Ashlee...I think I've had to many....ahhh....Big Mac's

"I'll stick to veggies, eggs, and fish."

Admirable. Healthy habits do a body good.
These days it's difficult to eat right,
but I'm trying.

Doesn't matter what the facts are, the government will continue to say that cannabis has no medicinal value. Hemp producers don't line the pockets of politicians like the pharma people do. The FDA just released another statement this week spouting the government propaganda about cannabis, in contradicition of the results of their own study! Meanwhile, we are prohibited from the one tried & true arthritis relief medication (drink it in tea, don't smoke it) while the pharmas keep introducing pain relievers with deadly side effects. For now, I'll live with the pain and continue to work on decriminalization.

There are a lot of things the government will say, no matter what the facts are.

Drinking is good for you this week, too, if you're male. Drink every day they say, but only in moderation. Don't drink and drive. Drink at home, alone, and become an alcoholic.

There's nothing worse than playing to a entire room of sober people.

"There's nothing worse than playing to a entire room of sober people."

Except convincing a Congress that the war on some drugs has been an utter failure when their campaign contributions depend on the pharma/beer/textile industrial lobbyists.

. . . plus the media cartel.

"Except convincing a Congress..."

That is NOT a room full of sober people.

That's a good one, George; it cracked me up!!

"I can think of no other drug that does not have a lethal dose."

Plus, it has real medicinal value (leaves for tea).

In all fairness, let it be grown and used with reasonable limitations to the extent that nicotine and alcohol (both strongly addictive, cytotoxic substances) are tolerated in our society.

"In all fairness, let it be grown and used with reasonable limitations to the extent that nicotine and alcohol (both strongly addictive, cytotoxic substances) are tolerated in our society."


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Besides... just think how much revenue the government can make from the taxes on it...

Good point!