Study finds no link between Pot smoking & Lung Cancer

[Arlos]

LOS ANGELES, California (Reuters) -- Marijuana smoking does not increase a person's risk of developing lung cancer, according to the findings of a new study at the University of California Los Angeles that surprised even the researchers.

They had expected to find that a history of heavy marijuana use, like cigarette smoking, would increase the risk of cancer.

Instead, the study, which compared the lifestyles of 611 Los Angeles County lung cancer patients and 601 patients with head and neck cancers with those of 1,040 people without cancer, found no elevated cancer risk for even the heaviest pot smokers. It did find a 20-fold increased risk of lung cancer in people who smoked two or more packs of cigarettes a day.

The study results were presented in San Diego Tuesday at a meeting of the American Thoracic Society.

The study was confined to people under age 60 since baby boomers were the most likely age group to have long-term exposure to marijuana, said Dr. Donald Tashkin, senior researcher and professor at the UCLA School of Medicine.

The results should not be taken as a blank check to smoke pot, which has been associated with problems including cognitive impairment and chronic bronchitis, said Dr. John Hansen-Flaschen, chief of pulmonary and critical care at the University of Pennsylvania Health System in Philadelphia. He was not involved in the study.

Previous studies showed marijuana tar contained about 50 percent more of the chemicals linked to lung cancer, compared with tobacco tar, Tashkin said. In addition, smoking a marijuana joint deposits four times more tar in the lungs than smoking an equivalent amount of tobacco.

"Marijuana is packed more loosely than tobacco, so there's less filtration through the rod of the cigarette, so more particles will be inhaled," Tashkin said in a statement. "And marijuana smokers typically smoke differently than tobacco smokers -- they hold their breath about four times longer, allowing more time for extra fine particles to deposit in the lung."

He theorized that tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, a chemical in marijuana smoke that produces its psychotropic effect, may encourage aging, damaged cells to die off before they become cancerous.

Hansen-Flaschen also cautioned a cancer-marijuana link could emerge as baby boomers age and there may be smaller population groups, based on genetics or other factors, still at risk for marijuana-related cancers.

-Arlos

[Narrock]

I call bullshit.

[Arlos]

*shrug* UCLA Med is pretty prestigous, I doubt they'd have any incentive to falsify research. Especially considering they expected to find exactly the opposite. Since the results are not expected, they'll have likely been much more rigorously tested to make sure tehre wasn't a mistake being made than visa versa.

-Arlos

[Narrock]

I can also post about a zillion articles *proving* a link between cancer and marijuana smoking, but I don't feel like 'ing it and debating the issue. You can believe the UCLA noobs. I'll believe the gazillion other sources that link lung cancer to smoking teh pot.

[Lyion]

Interesting, but it really doesn't seem to be a very detailed or indepth study.
A few hundred people isn't a good test study. Nor is a non verifiable testing.

This does stick out, and somewhat override their claim

Previous studies showed marijuana tar contained about 50 percent more of the chemicals linked to lung cancer, compared with tobacco tar, Tashkin said. In addition, smoking a marijuana joint deposits four times more tar in the lungs than smoking an equivalent amount of tobacco.

[Narrock]

Interesting, but it really doesn't seem to be a very detailed or indepth study.
A few hundred people isn't a good test study. Nor is a non verifiable testing.

This does stick out, and somewhat override their claim

Previous studies showed marijuana tar contained about 50 percent more of the chemicals linked to lung cancer, compared with tobacco tar, Tashkin said. In addition, smoking a marijuana joint deposits four times more tar in the lungs than smoking an equivalent amount of tobacco.

How dare you impede on a bogus U C L A study with REAL facts!!! Shame on you Lyion!

[Arlos]

You miss this line, Lyion?

He theorized that tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, a chemical in marijuana smoke that produces its psychotropic effect, may encourage aging, damaged cells to die off before they become cancerous.

If true, it would explain how it can have more carcinogenic chemicals than tobacco, but not actually cause cancers.

Also, am curious as to how much tar is inhaled from people who use various filters (water in a bong, stripped cigarette filters, etc).

Again, they're publishing the study in a peer-reviewed medical journal. Dislike their results all you want, but if their methodology is flawed, the peer review will kick it back in their faces and prevent it getting published. Conversely, if it does get published, other experts obviously think it to be a valid experiment...

-Arlos

[Spazz]

I dont have cancer

[Lyion]

Again, its a limited study based on unverifiable info without much actual science, just a small amount of untestable math, Arlos.

[Harrison]

Because inhaling fucking SMOKE (of any sort) is just great for your lungs...

You have to be retarded if you think for one second it won't cause cancer.

[dammuzis]

i liked brownies when i was following the dead around

oooh and rice crispie treats

[Narrock]

I loved smoking cigarettes. If smoking didn't cause cancer or emphysema, I'd still be smoking cigs. I quit 2 1/2 years ago now.

[Menlaan]

I'm with Arlos on this one. I think people are so used to posting "CNN is biased!" that they're overusing it. We're talking about a medical journal here that is subject to peer-review. Just because you don't agree with the conclusions, doesn't mean that the method they employed is flawed...

Menlaan

[Markarado]

I can't imagine how smoking pot won't cause lung cancer, but I'm open to whatever they have to say about this topic...

And Mindia, try to keep an open mind. It doesn't say anywhere in the Bible that smoking pot is wrong. I agree with a lot of your view points, but you seem to throw any studies or evidence towards a view point you disagree with out the window.

[Narrock]

I can't imagine how smoking pot won't cause lung cancer, but I'm open to whatever they have to say about this topic...

And Mindia, try to keep an open mind. It doesn't say anywhere in the Bible that smoking pot is wrong. I agree with a lot of your view points, but you seem to throw any studies or evidence towards a view point you disagree with out the window.

I didn't say anything about the Bible, did I? In fact, when was the last time you saw me bring religion into any thread? I just have a strong disbelief in the credibility of this "find" by UCLA. I've seen too many articles that say marijuana does contribute to lung cancer, as well as many other ailments.

[Markarado]

I didn't say that you did. In fact I did. As a Christian myself I'm sick of the mainstream Christian habit of deciding that certain things are 'wrong' without any real religious evidence (couldn't think of a better word to use) to back it up.

[Narrock]

Benzopyrene - Lung cancer causing carcinogen
more prevalent in marijuana than in tobacco
A breakthrough report published in the journal Science provides the first true molecular evidence conclusively linking components in tobacco smoking to lung cancer. A chemical found in tobacco smoking, benzopyrene, causes genetic damage in lung cells that is identical to the damage observed in the DNA of most malignant tumors of the lungs.

Although scientists have been convinced in the past that smoking causes lung cancer, the strong statistical associations did not provide absolute proof. This paper absolutely pinpoints that mutations in lung cancer cells are caused by benzopyrene.

An average marijuana cigarette contains 30 nanograms of this carcinogen, compared to 21 nanograms in an average tobacco cigarette. (Marijuana and Health, National Academy of Sciences, Institute of Medicine report).

This potent carcinogen suppresses a gene that controls growth of cells. When this gene is damaged, the body becomes more susceptible to cancer. This gene, P53, is related to half of all human cancers and as many as 70% of lung cancers.

Clearly marijuana smoke contains more of the potent carcinogen benzopyrene than tobacco smoke. Furthermore, the technique of smoking marijuana by inhaling deeply and holding the smoke within the lungs presents a chance of much greater exposure than a conventional
tobacco cigarette.

This material has been reviewed and commented on by William M. Bennett, M.D., Professor of Medicine, Division of Nephrology, Clinical Pharmacology and Hypertension at Oregon Health Sciences University, Portland, Oregon. Dr. Bennett, who is listed in "BEST DOCTORS IN AMERICA" states, "The idea of using smoked marijuana containing these carcinogens as medicine, particularly for patients who have suppressed immune systems like those with AIDS, should be unthinkable. Thus, prior to considering marijuana as medicine, one must abide by the old edict, ‘first do no harm’."

Lung cancer
Encyclopedia of Alternative Medicineby Mai Tran

Definition
Lung cancer is a disease in which the cells of the lung tissues grow uncontrollably and form tumors. It is the leading cause of death from cancer among both men and women in the United States. The American Cancer Society estimated that in 1998, at least 172,000 new cases of lung cancer will have been diagnosed, and that lung cancer will account for 28% of all cancer deaths, or approximately 160,000 people.

Description
Types of lung cancer
There are two kinds of lung cancers, primary and secondary. Primary lung cancer (also called adenocarcinoma) starts in the lung itself. Primary lung cancer is divided into small cell lung cancer and non-small cell lung cancer, depending on how the cells look under the microscope. Secondary lung cancer is cancer that starts somewhere else in the body (for example, the breast or colon) and spreads to the lungs.

Small cell cancer was formerly called oat cell cancer, because the cells resemble oats in their shape. About one-fourth of all lung cancers are small cell cancers. This type is a very aggressive cancer and spreads to other organs within a short time. It is generally found in people who are heavy smokers. Non-small cell cancers account for the remaining 75% of lung cancers. They can be further subdivided into three categories.

Incidence of lung cancer
Lung cancer is rare among young adults. It is usually found in people who are 50 years of age or older, with the average age at diagnosis being 60. While the incidence of the disease is decreasing among Caucasian men, it is steadily rising among African-American men, and among both Caucasian and African-American women. This change is probably due to the increase in the number of smokers in these groups. In 1987, lung cancer replaced breast cancer as the number one cancer killer among women.

Causes & symptoms
Causes
Smoking
Tobacco smoking is the leading cause of lung cancer. Ninety percent of lung cancers can be prevented by completely giving up tobacco. Smoking marijuana cigarettes is considered yet another risk factor for cancer of the lung. These cigarettes have a higher tar content than tobacco cigarettes. In addition, they are inhaled very deeply; as a result, the smoke is held in the lungs for a longer period of time.

Exposure to asbestos and toxic chemicals
Repeated exposure to asbestos fibers, either at home or in the workplace, is also considered a risk factor for lung cancer. Studies show that compared to the general population, asbestos workers are seven times more likely to die from lung cancer. Asbestos workers who smoke increase their risk of developing lung cancer by 50-100 times. Besides asbestos, mining industry workers who are exposed to coal products or radioactive substances, such as uranium, and workers exposed to chemicals, such as arsenic, vinyl chloride, mustard gas, and other carcinogens, also have a higher than average risk of contracting lung cancer.

:OH SCHNAP:

Moral of the story? Don't smoke anything!

[Thon]

the difference is nobody but snoop dog smokes a fucking pack a day of joints

[Markarado]

I think that the main problem with smoking pot is how lazy it makes most people. What I enjoy doing more than anything when I smoke is to hit a joint and immediately go play some squash or basketball. I'll play harder, longer, and better than when I'm not high. I find it amazing how much better I play when I'm stoned compared to when I'm not.

[Arlos]

You want to cut out most of the tar in pot, just smoke from a bong. Water filters most of the tar.

For a method of intake of THC without ANY carcinogens, get a vaporizer. These're devices that heat a wad of pot to a point where the THC compounds boil off into vapor, but not so hot as to actually burn the plant material. The resultant vapor is captured in some sort of plastic bag, and people can just inhale from the bag. No burnt tar, no nothing. This is the best method for people using pot for medicinal puproses to get it.

And again, none of those articles Mindia posted contravenes the results of this study. Remember, they knew all of those facts going into the study, and completely expected to find a definitive cancer link for pot smokers as a result. That's why what they found is so surprising. I'll be curious to see what happens when it's published in the peer-review journal. I trust the opinion of medical professionals as to the methodology and viability of the study far more than I trust the opinion of anyone here on NT about such things.

-Arlos

[Narrock]

I trust the opinion of medical professionals as to the methodology and viability of the study far more than I trust the opinion of anyone here on NT about such things

Same here.

[Hylissa]

For a method of intake of THC without ANY carcinogens, get a vaporizer. These're devices that heat a wad of pot to a point where the THC compounds boil off into vapor, but not so hot as to actually burn the plant material. The resultant vapor is captured in some sort of plastic bag, and people can just inhale from the bag. No burnt tar, no nothing. This is the best method for people using pot for medicinal puproses to get it.

Vaporizers are cool ... you actually smoke less to get the same effect. Only thing, it takes a bit of getting used to the taste - taste is more "green" then when you actually light it up. After its vaporized, it looks like tobacco in color, but same consistency as pot.

[Spazz]

the difference is nobody but snoop dog smokes a fucking pack a day of joints

So not true. When i was a pizza guy i could get thru KULU (like a joint 100) after kulu. im pretty sure a half a day would break down into a pack of joints

[brinstar]

yeah back when i smoked j's i wasn't the "sit around and watch scooby doo" type i was more the "holy crap let's go jump off park benches" type

[Tikker]

I don't understand why people need the crutch of smoking