Pot not a major cancer risk: report

[deadparrot]

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Although both marijuana and tobacco smoke are packed with cancer-causing chemicals, other qualities of marijuana seem to keep it from promoting lung cancer, according to a new report.

The difference rests in the often opposing actions of the nicotine in tobacco and the active ingredient, THC, in marijuana, says Dr. Robert Melamede of the University of Colorado in Colorado Springs.

He reviewed the scientific evidence supporting this contention in a recent issue of Harm Reduction Journal.

Whereas nicotine has several effects that promote lung and other types of cancer, THC acts in ways that counter the cancer-causing chemicals in marijuana smoke, Melamede explained in an interview with Reuters Health.

"THC turns down the carcinogenic potential," he said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20051026/hl_nm/pot_cancer_dc

[Zhade]

1. Even this...

"marijuana and tobacco smoke are packed with cancer-causing chemicals"

...is not quite true.

At least, not with regards to marijuana.

[shadowknows69]

9. this is a huge report though

remember learning the stat about smoking one joint is equal to smoking like 10 cigarettes in the damage it does. well, not really.

[Zhade]

40. That's always been so much bullshit.

The DEA is evil.

[Toots]

43. Actually pot has more tar than tobacco

The only saving grace is that people don't smoke pot like they do cigarettes.

[iconoclastNYC]

48. RTFA!!!!

[Zhade]

52. Uh, yeah, whatever you say.

:eyes:

[onehandle]

2. Misleading and old news.

Although this is new to Yahoo, it was posted a couple of weeks ago.

Also, any burning material taken into your lungs can cause cancer. You cough when there's smoke. There's a reason. Your body is telling you so.

[MisterP]

13. coughing is due to irritation, which, though playing a part in some

tumors, is not the actual cause

[Wise Doubter]

3. If I smoke enough pot, can I not worry about how many

cigarettes I smoke ?? Hmmm.....:smoke:

[Carolab]

38. That's what I was wondering too....

Maybe it's time to start my counterbalancing campaign!

:woohoo:

[mcscajun]

41. If I smoke enough pot, I won't even worry about Cancer.

I won't GIVE a freakin' shit!

[swimboy]

55. Welcome to DU, Wise Doubter!

:hi: :smoke: B-)

[Wise Doubter]

75. Thanks

:smoke:

[LetsGoMurphys]

59. lol same exact thing popped into my head! n/t

[Beetwasher]

4. If Pot WERE A Major Cancer Risk, I'd Be A Giant Walking Tumor By Now

n/t

[MarsThe Cat]

7. same here-

at age 44, i've been smoking about an OUNCE a week for many years. (and that's just me, my wife doesn't smoke).

[Scout]

25. I wish I had the time and the money for a whole ounce to myself! n/t

[MarsThe Cat]

31. i'm retired, so the SSA picks up the cost of the weed...

(even though they don't realize it)

and i've all the time in the world.

[hollowdweller]

72. I hope you are a good Dem and are buying Domestic with the SS $$

[Gregorian]

22. Ditto. Going on 50. Race mountain bikes. And I forget what else.

:)

[sendero]

5. I was just thinking about this..

... a couple weeks ago.

A long time ago, it was touted that a single "joint" was as damaging as a pack of cigarettes. I was skeptical way back then, now I call "bullshit".

If that were true, we'd be having tons of lung cancer instances in pot-only smokers. Didn't materialize did it?

That's because like so many assertions by "medical science" (as good an oxymoron as any), it sounds good, may make just a boatload of common sense but it is plain wrong.

So, don't worry about eating eggs they will not give you a coronary. Neither will coffee. And smoking pot is probably not that good for you but it seems pretty unlikely that it is some huge cancer risk.

[Porcupine]

6. It seems that pot might actually INHIBIT tomors.

I've seen several reports that the government has tried many times to prove that pot promotes tumor growth. The problem they have is that in almost every case the pot smoking rats survive longer than the control groups.

Check this link: http://www.alternet.org/module/printversion/20008

[nyhuskyfan]

10. Not only that...

But the pot-smoking rats made much better music.

[andyhappy]

53. ha ha ha ha ha ha

I just had to give props for that....I really did just LOL!

[alarcojon]

8. I'll toke to that!

We need a :toast: smiley with bongs instead of mugs.

[RJRoss]

11. Boy Howdy!

I'll be ditching these cancer-sticks and visiting The Man!

[swimboy]

56. Welcome to DU, RJRoss!

:hi: :smoke: B-)

[Ezlivin]

12. I'm not as think as you stoned I am

Remember that ol' gem from the Seventies?

How can it be that we consider ourselves a smart people, yet we spend over $40 billion each year trying to stop people from using a plant?

[rodeodance]

14. Pot not a major cancer risk: report

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20051026/hl_nm/pot_cancer_dc;_ylt=Al.uaRhj4_v1_elr5ACK1I.s0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3ODdxdHBhBHNlYwM5NjQ-
Pot not a major cancer risk: report

By Amy Norton Wed Oct 26,12:29 PM ET

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Although both marijuana and tobacco smoke are packed with cancer-causing chemicals, other qualities of marijuana seem to keep it from promoting lung cancer, according to a new report.

The difference rests in the often opposing actions of the nicotine in tobacco and the active ingredient, THC, in marijuana, says Dr. Robert Melamede of the University of Colorado in Colorado Springs.

He reviewed the scientific evidence supporting this contention in a recent issue of Harm Reduction Journal.

Whereas nicotine has several effects that promote lung and other types of cancer, THC acts in ways that counter the cancer-causing chemicals in marijuana smoke, Melamede explained in an interview with Reuters Health.



......U.S. government officials, however, maintain that the evidence for medical marijuana is not there. Ten states allow people to use marijuana with a doctor's prescription, but the Supreme Court has ruled that federal law trumps state law.

[rodeodance]

15. 4.6 stars on yahoo

RECOMMEND THIS STORY

Recommend It:

Average (199 votes)
4.6 stars

[rodeodance]

16. but note that the Fed. gov has its own thoughts on this.

U.S. government officials, however, maintain that the evidence for medical marijuana is not there. Ten states allow people to use marijuana with a doctor's prescription, but the Supreme Court has ruled that federal law trumps state law.

[IChing]

17. dupe in BN

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1879440

[henslee]

18. yayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

:7

[still_one]

19. sorry but I think it is bullshit

when you inhale any smoke related substance it affects lung capacity

[sniffa]

20. it is a gateway drug to harder forms of cancer

[still_one]

21. there is no way that it can be good for the lungs

the lungs were designed to breath AIR

[leesa]

24. If you live in a major city the air may be worse.

You need to chill...there have been so many, many, studies and they can't find anything.

[triguy46]

63. bullshit. n/t

[MarsThe Cat]

29. I gotta disagree STRONGLY!!

the lungs Evolved to breathe air- "design" had nothing to do with it.

unless you live in kansas, or certain parts of pennsylvania or georgia.

[Ignis]

68. LOL

Thanks for that one! :)

[sniffa]

71. you're weLcome

i thought it was kinda funny myseLf... and i'm not even stoned. :o

[Gregorian]

23. I noticed an increase in lung capacity when I quit.

But after thirty years of heavy smoking, I should not have been able to finish third in a serious mountain bike race. Nevertheless, I did see an increase.

I also have my doubts that it is entirely benign. But hell, I would be dead if I had been smoking Camel straights all these years.

[Scout]

26. well, no one is claiming it's GOOD for you....

whenever I start to get a little smokers caugh, I cut back on the herb and the cough goes away. I rarely even get the little cough though.

If you're choking/gagging/coughing on your toke, you're either a lightweight or you need to take smaller tokes.

Marijuana has been used medicinally for many centuries, especially the ancient Chinese culture and some even older.

[MarsThe Cat]

30. well, You are-

"...Marijuana has been used medicinally for many centuries, especially the ancient Chinese culture and some even older."

isn't medicine, pretty much by definition- something that's good for you...?

[alarcojon]

32. Ever hear of side effects?

[MarsThe Cat]

34. not from pot-

well...not bad ones anyway.

[RJRoss]

35. Lingering coughs

I smoke cigs, but if I get a cold, they don't make the cough last longer than normal. Weed, on the other hand, will extend phlegm production for at least a week.

[WindRavenX]

27. Did you read the article?

Although smoke of cigarettes or marijuana contain carcinogenic chemicals, THC and canniboids seems to INHIBIT the cellular pathway that transforms a normal cell to a cancerous one.

[triguy46]

64. but will not prevent the development of emphysema and chronic bronchitis.

[MarsThe Cat]

28. It certainly does!

thc, the active ingredient in all the best pot- works as a bronchial dilator...so, smoking pot definitely affects lung capacity- it increases it...which is why, when it was legal it was prescribed to asthmatics.

[mcscajun]

42. Tell that to my friend who lost part of a lung (due to testicular cancer

that metastatized) in his 20's. He's over 50 now, been smoking pot all his life, and hikes once a week in the hills around his home, and hikes the Whites every summer. His lung capacity is fine.

[triguy46]

62. You are correct, the unspoken of damage...

is the same as with cigarette smoke. You don't have to have lung cancer to have emphysema or chronic bronchitis, lovely little diseases that let you die one breath at a time over a 20 year period.

[ECH1969]

33. I would be long since dead if it was

[bsiebs]

36. If there were a link to ANYTHING disease related....

If there were a link to ANYTHING disease related to pot, you wouldn't have to sit through those stupid (but funny) government sponsered ads about how dangerous pot is for kids by showing dramatic enactments of whatever. They would be showing unending pictures, videos and testimonials of the dead and diseased users. What a waste of time, money and peoples lives (jail time).

[bunnywhiskers]

37. I've smoked a lot of

red bud, dirt weed and mexican pot and everybody tells me its worse for you than if you only smoked greenbud. I don't know if this is true. I suppose I would believe it if what they meant was that shitty pot is more likely to have herbicides in it.

[swimboy]

58. Welcome to DU, bunnywhiskers!

:hi: :smoke: B-)

Save yourself for the good stuff.

[toymachines]

60. that and mold

sometimes you gotta smoke the schwag. but not when you got a dispensary ten minutes away. :hippie:

[slay]

65. I just like the way the good, high quality bud tastes...

and smells.. and gets me stoned quicker. Screw it - I just LOVE good weed period. :smoke: :evilgrin:

Oh, by the way, Welcome to DU bunnywhiskers! :hi:

[truthisfreedom]

39. yeah, well, it still makes you into a stoner. the time has long since

passed for many of us to have the luxury of losing that much of our useful workday!

[BiggJawn]

44. Well, That news would make Bob Marley happy....

If he hadn't died from lung cancer oh-so long ago...

[Ernesto]

46. Make that cancer of the liver, lungs, brain & other vital organs

http://www.bobmarley.com/life/

[not systems]

50. The cancer started in his toe...

I doubt that he got toe cancer from smoking ganja.

[DrunkenMaster]

54. *ahem*

Marley smoked Rasta-style spliffs, which as every stoner knows, consists of pot/tobacco mix that is particularly harsh and the forerunner of the modern "blunt" popularized by hiphop culture.


Post hoc, ergo prompter hoc, meet the straw man.

[swimboy]

57. Good post, DrunkenMaster. Welcome to DU!

:hi: :smoke: B-)

[Kailassa]

45. Smoking pot is one way to pay our respects to the founders ...

of America.

I'm no authority on pot, but I do know that everything has its side effects. Even spinach has a chemical in it that is deadly if you eat enough. What I do know is that people who want things banned usually have ulterior motives.

In this case the excuse of pot having no medicinal benefits is disproved by the very people pushing the government to keep it banned, the drug companies. They don't want any competition out there for the pot-derived drugs they plan to patent.

[Ernesto]

47. You nailed it

The drug company's are way too powerful... We can thank them for working against national health care, something that 75% of Americans approve of.

[CheshireCat]

49. Through observation

some of us were already coming to this conclusion. I've never seen cancer in someone who smokes pot but not cigarettes. And I know many people who fit in that classification. Most have been smoking herb for at least 30 years.

[MagickMuffin]

51. There are those of us you knew this all along!

the government, big pharma, the alcohol industry and a host of other corparations don't want the legalization of cannibus. It would "harm" their control over us. I do not have the resources to afford their drugs, don't drink anymore, so self medication is the only way to go.

My friend who was wasting away due to aids, told his doctor that he smoked and she explained to him that was what had been keeping him alive for so long. Unfortunitally it can't work miracles. Of course if it did the government would just deny it.



:hippie: :bounce: :smoke: :bounce: :party: :bounce: :hippie: :bounce: :smoke: :party:
:woohoo: :applause: :woohoo: :applause: :woohoo: :applause: :woohoo: :applause: :woohoo:

[recycledindi]

61. well then

let's add THC to cigarettes. cancer problem solved and I'd be a happy camper.

[OnionPatch]

66. Glad to hear this

but I still cannot believe that smoking a lot can't hurt you. Maybe it doesn't cause cancer, and I'm very, very happy to hear that (whew!) but I don't think it means you can be huffing on a doob all day, every day without some ill effects. I know I start to cough and my throat gets sore when I over-indulge. That's got to be my body telling me something. I wouldn't start chain smoking because of this news, but it is good news.

[0rganism]

67. The operative word(s) is(are) "a lot"

This much is clear: anyone who's "huffing on a doob all day" doesn't have a regular job!

The pot smokers I know average maybe a 1/4 gram per day, tops. That's plenty for most of us. Cigarette smokers, on the other hand, go through much more than that in ONE CIGARETTE, and often use 5 or more in a day.

[hollowdweller]

69. Peter Tosh was right. "The healing of the nations"

Now if we can just blow enough shotguns to the Islamofascists and the Neocons maybe the rest of us can live in peace!

[bonito]

70. What about browines

Anyone have data on this?

[hollowdweller]

73. Just a hell of a lot of personal exposure to "baked goods"

So far so good.

Every try the Marakesh White Cookies?

[bonito]

74. No, but do tell !