Lung Cancer Association with Smoking Marijuana Debunked
A study led by Donald Tashkin of the University of California suggests incidences of lung cancer are not the same when one uses marijuana and when one smokes tobacco.
There is admittedly, an ongoing confusion about the effects of smoking marijuana.
As if it is not enough, another study led by Professor Donald Tashkin of the University of California in Los Angeles is suggesting that the incidence of lung cancer is not actually the same when one uses marijuana and when one smokes tobacco.
Earlier, it can be remembered that Tashkin (with his colleagues) were the same persons who were able to show that marijuana smoke injures cells in the upper airways and even identified the substance, Benzpyrene which is also implicated in tobacco smoke as a contributor in the development of lung cancers.
However, with Tashkin’s team analyzing data from 1,212 cancer patients from the Los Angeles County Cancer Surveillance program and 1,040 cancer-free controls, they were able to come up with startling findings; that an increase in the use of marijuana did not result in higher rates of lung cancer and pharyngeal cancer as compared to tobacco smokers who were at greater risk the more they smoked. Additionally, the tobacco smokers who also used marijuana were at slightly lower risk of acquiring cancer of the lung compared with tobacco-only smokers.
But, does smoking any quantity of marijunana vs not smoking anything increase your risk of cancer? According to other studies, yes.
This is the most comprehensive study I have seen so far and is the best evidence we have that I am aware of.
Of course with studies you can have the whole gamut of problems such as too few subjects, flawed methodology etc. So I am sure you'll find some studies showing an increased risk of cancer associated with cannabis smoking, yes, but the quality of Dr. Tashkin's research is such it was designed to avoid all these problems. I suggest reading into his study before passing judgement.
But there is very good underlying theory as to why it would do so. Re: pyrolysis products like polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Aside from cancer, how about COPD and emphysema from smoking/inhaling any sort of smoke. Like numerous studies show firefighters, welders, mechanics, and others who spend much time in smoke filled environments have increased incidence of all of those.
what if you just vaporize your cannabis or eat it? no issues then?
You haven't watched the video have you? Before his research Tashkin himself hypothesized that there would be a definitive link between cancer and marijuana smoking for those very reasons, but the results of his study indicated otherwise. "What we found instead was no association and even a suggestion of some protective effect," says Tashkin, whose research was the largest case-control study ever conducted. This is the whole point of the research. It's what science is for!
I'll say it again, you should at least watch the video and hear what he has to say because he addresses those points directly.
In contrast to the latter findings, moreover, 9-tetrahydrocannabinol has
been shown to augment lung cancer growth in an immunocompetent mouse model due to its potent effect on immunosuppression (30).
Marijuana Use and the Risk of Lung and Upper Aerodigestive Tract Cancers: Results of a Population-Based Case-Control StudyIf we focus on the upper 95% CL as an indication of the most harm that marijuana smoking may confer on cancer risk, perhaps marijuana use in the 10-joint-year range is at most a moderate risk factor that increases risk by 50% to 100%