CANNABIS
Cannabis side effects no one wants to discuss
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by John Lucas
t might be the cannabis industry’s dirty little secret: smoking weed doesn’t always make you feel good. I’m not talking about the psychoactive effects, mind you. Just about everyone is aware that some individuals can experience feelings of anxiety and paranoia after toking and that certain strains can trigger these more than others. No, I’m talking about the impact that smoking cannabis may have on the user’s body. Pot can have unpleasant side effects, but they don’t exactly get a lot of attention, especially among those with a vested interest in selling a squeaky-clean, user-friendly image of everyone’s favourite plant. Start poking around the Internet in search of the truth about cannabis and its effects on lung health and you’ll quickly realize two things. First of all, there’s a lot of information—an overwhelming amount. Second, a lot of what you encounter will contradict the “facts” you find elsewhere. What, then, should you believe? That depends largely on which sources you trust. The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), for example, has created a fact sheet called “Cannabis Exposure and Lung Health”. It’s a
Research suggests that chronic cannabis use may damage airways. Photos by Getty Images Plus.
carefully curated selection of quotes from a variety of journals, mostly contrasting the effects of cannabis with those of tobacco. NORML cites a review of existing studies published by the journal Chest. Author Donald P. Tashkin notes that “habitual marijuana use in the manner and quantity in which it is customarily smoked” has not been shown to be “a significant risk factor for the development of lung cancer”. Chest reports essentially the same findings for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (or COPD), a group of lung diseases that in-
cludes chronic bronchitis, emphysema, and some kinds of asthma. The journal does point out, however, that cannabis smoke is “associated with an increased risk of symptoms of chronic bronchitis and evidence of inflammation and injury involving the larger airways”. Tashkin also notes that pot smoke contains volatile and particulate components found in tobacco smoke. These include “a variety of chemicals (phenols, aldehydes, acrolein, etc) that are injurious to lung tissue, and carcinogens, including benzpyrene and benzanthracene”.
Let’s be perfectly blunt here: inhaling smoke—any kind of smoke—is bad for your lungs. As the Canadian Lung Association tells us, this is because “the combustion of materials releases toxins and carcinogens. These are released regardless of the source—whether it is burning wood, tobacco or cannabis.” What, then, is the truth? Can smoking cannabis cause lung cancer or not? Good luck finding a definitive answer to that question. Read through peer-reviewed medical studies, though, and you’ll find ones that seem to conclude definitively that it can. For example, in 2008, researchers in New Zealand concluded that “Long term cannabis use increases the risk of lung cancer in young adults.” Clearly, there’s lots to consider—and we have only discussed lung health so far. g
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FEBRUARY 11 – 18 / 2021
THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT
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