POT IS TWENTYFOLD BIGGER CANCER RISK THAN CIGARETTES

Smoking a joint is equivalent to 20 cigarettes in terms of lung cancer
risk, scientists in New Zealand have found, as they warned of an
"epidemic" of lung cancers linked to cannabis.

Studies in the past have demonstrated that cannabis can cause cancer
but few have established a strong link between cannabis use and the
actual incidence of lung cancer.

In an article published in the European Respiratory Journal, the
scientists said cannabis could be expected to harm the airways more
than tobacco as its smoke contained twice the level of carcinogens,
such as polyaromatic hydrocarbons, compared with tobacco cigarettes.

The method of smoking also increases the risk, as joints are typically
smoked without a proper filter and almost to the very tip, which
increases the amount of smoke inhaled. The cannabis smoker inhales
more deeply and for longer, facilitating the deposition of carcinogens
in the airways.

"Cannabis smokers end up with five times more carbon monoxide in their
bloodstream (than tobacco smokers)," said team leader Richard Beasley,
at the Medical Research Institute of New Zealand.

"There are higher concentrations of carcinogens in cannabis smoke ...
what is intriguing to us is there is so little work done on cannabis
when there is so much done on tobacco.

"Cannabis use could already be responsible for one in 20 lung cancers
diagnosed in New Zealand."