By Steve Elliott
Hemp News
The pulmonary impact of smoking marijuana regularly is far less than that of smoking tobacco, according to a comprehensive new review of the published evidence conducted by Dr. Donald P. Tashkin, emeritus professor of medicine and medical director of the pulmonary function laboratory at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Habitual marijuana use alone doesn't appear to lead to significant abnormalities in lung function, according to the report, nor does it increase the risks of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or either lung cancer or upper airway cancer, reports Bruce Jancin at The Oncology Report.
Smoking marijuana is, however, associated with an increase in symptoms of chronic bronchitis (due to inhaling the smoke); but these symptoms go away upon discontinuation of use, according to Dr. Tashkin (Ann. Am. Thorac. Soc. 2013;10:239-47).
"The accumulated weight of evidence implies far lower risks for pulmonary complications of even regular heavy use of marijuana, compared with the grave pulmonary consequences of tobacco," Dr. Tashkin concluded.
Dr. Tashkin's article is "the most comprehensive and authoritative review of the subject ever published," according to an accompanying editorial by Dr. Mark A. Ware.
