HIGH CANCER RISK FOR DOPE SMOKERS

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

Other studies show that cannabis can cause cancer, but few established
a strong link between cannabis use and the 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. Joints are typically
smoked without a proper filter and almost to the very tip, which
increases the smoke inhaled.

The cannabis smoker inhales more deeply and for longer, facilitating
the deposition of carcinogens in the airways. The researchers
interviewed 79 lung cancer patients to identify the main risk factors
for the disease, such as smoking, family history and occupation.

In this high-exposure group, lung cancer risk rose by 5.7 times for
patients who smoked more than a joint a day for 10 years, or two
joints a day for five years.

"Cannabis use could already be responsible for one-in-20 lung cancers
diagnosed in New Zealand. In the near future we may see an 'epidemic'
of lung cancers connected with this new carcinogen," wrote team leader
Richard Beasley, of the Medical Research Institute of New Zealand

"And the future risk probably applies to many other countries, where
increasing use of cannabis among young adults and adolescents is
becoming a major public health problem."