How bad is this for your lungs?

[burnable]

"Cannabis resin, the most commonly used form of cannabis in the United Kingdom, is often smoked mixed with tobacco, thus adding the well-documented risks of exposure to tobacco smoke, while complicating the picture for the researcher."

why did you leave this portion of the paragraph off? I don't deny the legitimacy of the study, but the researchers have a hard time getting genuine test samples because so many cannabis smokers also smoke cigarettes.

"New research on this subject is constantly coming forward, so this cannot be said to be the last word on it."

I hope your dogma is not a direct result of the article, but you kinda indicated as such. Either way, you're smart to be moderate and use vaporizers.:thumbsup:

[606x808x303x420]

just slow down when you start to get a cough or something...

[LaidZeppelin]

ok i smoked cigarettes lightly for a month and when i played hockey i felt like shit and my lungs wanted to explode......no cigs and smoke weed almost everyday before i go to bed...lungs fine and I feel great running and doing all that shit...weed is much less harmful than cigs.

[expandingeye]

I agree about it not being as bad as cigarrettes for the lungs. as many scientific studies have backed this up, i believe mostly due to all the other bad things in cigs.

Though about water pipes i was sorry to read this article on canorml. I still use waterpipes because they are fun but apparently they are less effective and actually filter out more thc/cannabinoids than tar. As well as creating even more tar then if not used through water i believe it states:

"The California NORML/MAPS Smoking Device Study

[Article by Dale Gieringer printed in MAPS Newsletter, 1996; revised Nov., 1999]

Disappointingly, waterpipes performed uniformly worse than the unfiltered joint. The least bad waterpipe, the bong, produced 30% more tar per cannabinoids than the unfiltered joint.

This suggests that water filtration is actually counterproductive, apparently because water tends to absorb THC more readily than other, noxious tars.

The study results are obviously discomforting to waterpipe enthusiasts, many of whom prefer the cooler, milder smoke they produce, and have naturally assumed it is also more healthful. Unfortunately, however, the study indicates that waterpipes may actually be counterproductive in increasing consumption of carcinogenic tars.

Nonetheless, it is still premature to judge that waterpipes are actually unhealthful, since they may filter out other, non-solid smoke toxins occurring in the gas phase of the smoke, which was not analyzed in the study. Noxious gases known to occur in marijuana smoke include hydrogen cyanide, which incapacitates the lung's defensive cilia; volatile phenols, which contribute to the harshness of the taste; aldehydes, which promote cancer; and carbon monoxide, a known risk factor in heart disease. Previous studies indicate that water filtration may be quite effective in absorbing some of these"

^^^some of the article if anyone was interested, link wasnt really working.

[Biggins]

Here are a bunch of tidbits that have been in The Lancet, the world's leading independent medical SCIENTIFIC journal. The old "1 joint is equal to 10 cigarettes" thing was claimed on the amount taken in 1 hit of weed vs 1 hit of a cigarette combined with the length at which one holds each in their lungs, obviously weed being held in longer. It is a bogus media scare though.

In 1997, Tashkin and colleagues[ 18] reported that the rate of decline in respiratory function over 8 years among marijuana smokers did not differ from that in non-smokers. This finding contrasted with that of a follow-up of the Tucson cohort,[ 19] in which there was a greater rate of decline in respiratory function among marijuana-only smokers than in tobacco-only smokers and additive effects of tobacco and marijuana smoking. Both studies showed that long-term cannabis smoking increased bronchitic symptoms.

The safety of marijuana also needs additional clarification. The fact that marijuana has not been shown to produce serious health effects in casual users who tend to be young and healthy does not mean it will be devoid of adverse consequences in ill patients or in at-risk populations who may use marijuana on a continual basis. Long-term inhalation of marijuana smoke has adverse consequences on the lung,[ 8] potential for suppression of the immune system,[ 9] and abstinence symptoms on cessation.[ 10] Nadia Solowij and colleagues, in an observational study, now report impairment of cognitive function in long-term heavy cannabis users.[ 11]

The smoking of cannabis, even long term, is not harmful to health. Yet this widely used substance is illegal just about everywhere. There have been numerous calls over the years for the legalisation, or at least decriminalisation, of soft drugs, among which cannabis remains the most popular with all social groups. In this highly contentious area, the Dutch attitude has often been mentioned as the voice of sanity. In the Netherlands, customers of coffee shops can buy up to 30 g of cannabis for about [alpha]10 ($15) although the drug is technically illegal. The shops are not allowed to advertise, or to sell cannabis to individuals aged under 16 years.



My father has used marijuana for roughly 40 years, daily, and since he quit smoking cigarettes earlier this year I haven't heard him cough like he used to when smoking the tobacco. He is still a genius and hasn't shown any signs of mentally slowing down either. So I don't see anything wrong with it!

[420_24/7]

Taken from the House of Lords Report on the Erowid.org website.

Erowid Cannabis Vault : House of Lords Report

If you scroll down to section 4:17 it states...

Cannabis smoke contains all of the toxic chemicals present in tobacco smoke (apart from nicotine), with greater concentrations of carcinogenic benzanthracenes and benzpyrenes It has been estimated (BMA p 11) that smoking a cannabis cigarette (containing only herbal cannabis) results in approximately a five.fold greater increase in carboxy.haemoglobin concentration[12], a three.fold greater increase in the amount of tar inhaled, and a retention in the respiratory tract of one third more tar, than smoking a tobacco cigarette.

I now believe that smoking cannabis is just as bad as cigerattes or even worst for the lungs and the brain too. Its either this.

1. Smoke once in awhile and not everyday.
2. Use a vaporizer.
3. Use it for baked goods.

Not trying to bash on cannabis fellas but please believe. Regardless of what any pot users believe its very harmful towards the health (if smoked)

Bad enough for me to of sold the volcano vaporizer but I dont care only because I dont smoke weed much anymore for health reason. I do like to kick back roll a spliff ans blaze but once in awhile as I believe a spliff every now and then won't hurt.

That may be true, but I think there must be some other factors in play, because nobody has ever died from cannabis. I would think if its really that bad there would at least be some documented case of a death caused solely by cannabis.

[mseerob]

That may be true, but I think there must be some other factors in play, because nobody has ever died from cannabis. I would think if its really that bad there would at least be some documented case of a death caused solely by cannabis.

I never once said it causes death. What i was trying to point out is that smoking weed is really harmful to the lungs and damages them.

[420_24/7]

Let me ask you, do you believe that cigarettes have killed people?
If cannabis has the same carcinogens on such a high level would it not also kill people, there are some people who smoke a whole lot of weed daily. I think there must be some other variables that have not yet been studied.

[Biggins]

I've never heard of arsenic in weed but I have in cigarettes. Its only the most toxic substance to man.

[RollaBone]

I know for a fact that Bongs can be hazardous, especially Gravity Bongs. My buddy popped his lung, it wasn't a pretty site. But, as far as it taking out the tar and all the other crap, it might a little but rather a Bone than a Bong.:rasta: