DOES SMOKING POT CAUSE CANCER?

Conflicting Studies on Marijuana Use Suggest the Water Is Still Murky

Another flood of contradictory marijuana studies have left potheads
wondering if they should clear their bong water.

A January study in the European Respiratory Journal claims that
smoking one joint a day for 10 years provides the same cancer risk as
smoking 20 cigarettes a day, leading to worldwide headlines claiming
that marijuana is more dangerous than cigarettes.

The study also found that smoking one joint a day makes the user 5.7
times more at risk for developing lung cancer than non-smokers, even
after adjusting for tobacco use.

However, the study was conducted on only 10 patients with an average
age of 42, all of whom had serious medical issues, leading some
researchers to criticize the methodology.

Additionally, this study flies in the face of a May 2006 study out of
the University of California at Los Angeles, which found that smoking
marijuana had no positive association with an increased risk of cancer.

Although marijuana smoke contains carcinogenic chemicals, the study
found that the chemical THC, the active chemical that makes users
feel a "high," might kill dying cells, a process which could prevent
them from becoming cancerous.

That study involved a significantly larger sample size, specifically
1,200 Los Angeles cancer patients and 1,040 non-cancer patients.

Despite this, a February study published in Mutation Research Reviews
found that smoking marijuana provided a "likely" risk of developing
cancer, alongside the use of sun rooms, ingestion of processed meats
and proximity to garbage dumps.

The "likely" risks were nestled in between "proven" risks like
cigarettes, alcohol and overexposure to sunlight and "less risky"
elements like hair-dye and proximity to electrical lines.

The study also examined mobile phones and food additives but did not
have sufficient evidence to reach a conclusion.

Just like cigarettes, researchers studying marijuana not only focus
on links to cancer, but also withdrawal patterns. A study in the
January 2008 edition of Drug And Alcohol Dependence claims the
symptoms a user experiences when going through cigarette withdrawal
are virtually identical to marijuana withdrawal.

But potheads have no fear: despite confusing medical results,
marijuana vending machines will begin operating in California. After
providing a prescription, fingerprints and a photograph, users can
use a medical card to access in-store vending machines for their medication.