TOBACCO WORSE THAN CANNABIS

NO-ONE IN THE cannabis debate appears to be denying that smoking cannabis
might entail some health risks. There are, however, significant differences
between cannabis and tobacco usage, and also their effects on the body,
which Prof Robin Taylor's "Cannabis as bad as tobacco" study ( ODT ,
27.11.00) omitted to mention. Tobacco smoking is nearly always a daily
habit with most smokers consuming at least 10 cigarettes per day. Prof
Taylor's research, on the other hand, reveals that 80% of cannabis use is
only occasional. Most tobacco users are, therefore, at risk of lung damage
compared to only 20% of cannabis users.

Nicotine, the active ingredient in tobacco, is an addictive poison, whereas
the cannabinols of cannabis are non-toxic, non-addictive and have proven
medical utility. Tobacco smoke constricts the lungs' airways and kills the
lung-cleansing bronchial hairs, whereas cannabis has the opposite effect,
even when smoked, by acting as a bronchodilator and expectorant.

It is therefore ironic that the Asthma and Respiratory Foundation will be
using Prof Taylor's mistaken conclusions to support cannabis prohibition
when cannabis has been used safely for centuries as an effective asthma
treatment. Indeed, cannabis was available in cigarette form for this very
purpose in chemists, and advertised in newspapers, throughout New Zealand
until the hysteria of "marijuana madness" saw it pulled from the shelves in
1935.

J. Kearney,
Dalmore