The Cancer/Marijuana Connection
Study Finds No Cancer-Marijuana Connection
By Marc Kaufman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, May 26, 2006; A03
The largest study of its kind has unexpectedly concluded that smoking marijuana, even regularly and heavily, does not lead to lung cancer.
The new findings "were against our expectations," said Donald Tashkin of the University of California at Los Angeles, a pulmonologist who has studied marijuana for 30 years.
"We hypothesized that there would be a positive association between marijuana use and lung cancer, and that the association would be more positive with heavier use," he said. "What we found instead was no association at all, and even a suggestion of some protective effect."
Federal health and drug enforcement officials have widely used Tashkin's previous work on marijuana to make the case that the drug is dangerous. Tashkin said that while he still believes marijuana is potentially harmful, its cancer-causing effects appear to be of less concern than previously thought.
Earlier work established that marijuana does contain cancer-causing chemicals as potentially harmful as those in tobacco, he said. However, marijuana also contains the chemical THC, which he said may kill aging cells and keep them from becoming cancerous.
Tashkin's study, funded by the National Institutes of Health's National Institute on Drug Abuse, involved 1,200 people in Los Angeles who had lung, neck or head cancer and an additional 1,040 people without cancer matched by age, sex and neighborhood.
They were all asked about their lifetime use of marijuana, tobacco and alcohol. The heaviest marijuana smokers had lighted up more than 22,000 times, while moderately heavy usage was defined as smoking 11,000 to 22,000 marijuana cigarettes. Tashkin found that even the very heavy marijuana smokers showed no increased incidence of the three cancers studied.
"This is the largest case-control study ever done, and everyone had to fill out a very extensive questionnaire about marijuana use," he said. "Bias can creep into any research, but we controlled for as many confounding factors as we could, and so I believe these results have real meaning."
Tashkin's group at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA had hypothesized that marijuana would raise the risk of cancer on the basis of earlier small human studies, lab studies of animals, and the fact that marijuana users inhale more deeply and generally hold smoke in their lungs longer than tobacco smokers -- exposing them to the dangerous chemicals for a longer time. In addition, Tashkin said, previous studies found that marijuana tar has 50 percent higher concentrations of chemicals linked to cancer than tobacco cigarette tar.
While no association between marijuana smoking and cancer was found, the study findings, presented to the American Thoracic Society International Conference this week, did find a 20-fold increase in lung cancer among people who smoked two or more packs of cigarettes a day.
The study was limited to people younger than 60 because those older than that were generally not exposed to marijuana in their youth, when it is most often tried.
© 2006 The Washington Post Company
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/25/AR2006052501729_pf.html
Comments
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Lisa P,scouty said:DUH!!!!!!!!!!!
Marijuana is a god made plant that has not been manipulated by man.......yet. Give mankind time and they will screw that up too.
Lisa P. (who found marijuana was much more effective then anti-nausea pills and had no side effects while on chemo).
Do you think I can sneak it in without Mr. Drysdale knowing?
Kerry0 -
Ok, if it doesn't hurt....
Amsterdam sells 'fatties' legally.....in fact, there is a country-underwritten funding program to buy it from farmers who grow it....something about having a better control over the sales...hummm....
Well, off to The Netherlands!!!!!
Hugs, Kathi (With a big smile on her face..hehehehe)0 -
My Grandmother was dx with breast cancer back in the 70's . She smoked pot all the time . I remember she use to smoke a little , Get herself a big bowl of watermelon , watch Johnny Carson and laugh all night .KathiM said:Ok, if it doesn't hurt....
Amsterdam sells 'fatties' legally.....in fact, there is a country-underwritten funding program to buy it from farmers who grow it....something about having a better control over the sales...hummm....
Well, off to The Netherlands!!!!!
Hugs, Kathi (With a big smile on her face..hehehehe)
Hey wait Grandma didn't do chemo for her breast cancer ...GRANDMA !!!!!!
Take Care and God Bless.
Debra ( wait for me Kathi )0 -
Well, that's cool to know. Here in Alaska, well, suffice it to say I know ALOT of people who partake....It's good to know they are not all going to develop lung cancer! As for me, I am too paranoid about my CEA to smoke anything, not that I would not like to! LOL.0
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Why Kerry?kerry said:Lisa P,
Do you think I can sneak it in without Mr. Drysdale knowing?
Kerry
Are you afraid he will "bogart that joint my friend".......
Name the movie that line was in. First one get it right wins a free trip to Amsterdam to buy the goods for everyone interested. Just kidding of course.
Lisa P.0 -
Don't know the movie, but the album is Little Featscouty said:Why Kerry?
Are you afraid he will "bogart that joint my friend".......
Name the movie that line was in. First one get it right wins a free trip to Amsterdam to buy the goods for everyone interested. Just kidding of course.
Lisa P.0 -
Dumb and Dumber????scouty said:Why Kerry?
Are you afraid he will "bogart that joint my friend".......
Name the movie that line was in. First one get it right wins a free trip to Amsterdam to buy the goods for everyone interested. Just kidding of course.
Lisa P.
K0 -
Cheech and Chong .scouty said:Why Kerry?
Are you afraid he will "bogart that joint my friend".......
Name the movie that line was in. First one get it right wins a free trip to Amsterdam to buy the goods for everyone interested. Just kidding of course.
Lisa P.
Debra0 -
Easy Rider was the movie they played the Little Feat song. Sponger you were close but no cigar.debralla said:Cheech and Chong .
Debra
Kerry, your response made me laugh out loud.
Deb, you're thinking about "Up In Smoke". I don't think I ever watched it all the way thru but do remember the smoked up van scene.
Lisa P.0 -
My, my... aren't we just the THC trivia wunderkind?scouty said:Easy Rider was the movie they played the Little Feat song. Sponger you were close but no cigar.
Kerry, your response made me laugh out loud.
Deb, you're thinking about "Up In Smoke". I don't think I ever watched it all the way thru but do remember the smoked up van scene.
Lisa P.
Wanna try me on crystal meth trivia?0
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