cannabisnews.com: Marijuana Doesn't Cause Lung Cancer Marijuana Doesn't Cause Lung Cancer Posted by FoM on June 11, 2001 at 18:41:39 PT Canadian Press Source: Canoe Smoking marijuana does not seem to cause lung cancer, emphysema or cause birth anomalies in fetuses, a prominent U.S. researcher told a Senate committee Monday. John P. Morgan of City University of New York Medical School said heavy marijuana smokers do show some symptoms of lung damage, such as coughing, frequent colds and bronchitis, but not the life-threatening conditions seen among tobacco smokers. "We are some 30 to 40 years into this marijuana epidemic and still have not seen evidence of pulmonary cancer in marijuana smokers." He was speaking before a special Senate committee reassessing federal legislation and polices on marijuana. Morgan said there are reasons to believe the heavy smoker of cannabis will not succumb to emphysema, a condition frequent among cigarette smokers. He said cannabis contains just as many harmful compounds and irritants as tobacco, but even heavy marijuana smokers - those who consume four to six joints daily - don't smoke nearly as much as tobacco smokers. "The critical issue is the amount of smoke inhaled." He said marijuana smokers have slightly more respiratory complaints than non-smokers, but the difference is so small that it is of no practical significance. Morgan also criticized research purporting to show fetal damage among women who smoke marijuana and scoffed at the theory that marijuana is a gateway leading to hard drugs. "Many critics in the United States have decided that marijuana incites some biochemical trance that leads people to tramp the streets looking for heroin and cocaine." But statistics show that most marijuana smokers never go on to other drugs, he said. "There is no gateway, there is no credible gateway theory." He said prohibition of marijuana only makes young people more interested in trying it. Rates of marijuana use in The Netherlands, where the drug is freely available, he said, are lower than in the United States where it is banned. Morgan conceded that marijuana smokers are impaired for several hours after smoking. People who are high should not drive, babysit, mow the lawn or enter into marital contracts, he said. He attributed opposition to decriminalization of marijuana to what he called "the drug-law industrial complex" in the United States. "I don't believe anyone should go to jail for using a psychoactive substance," Morgan told the committee. The committee's hearings continue. Complete Title: Marijuana Doesn't Cause Lung Cancer, Says Medical ResearcherOttawa (CP) Source: Canoe (CN)Published: Monday, June 11, 2001 Copyright: 2001, Canoe Limited Partnership.Website: http://www.canoe.ca/Canadian Linkshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/can.htmMarijuana-Like Chemical May Control Coughing http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread7522.shtmlMarijuana-Like Chemical Helps Relieve Coughshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread7521.shtmlCannabisNews Articles - Canadahttp://cannabisnews.com/thcgi/search.pl?K=canada Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #20 posted by Pongo6942 on August 30, 2001 at 15:10:48 PT: Here are Some of my beliefs If you are against Cannabis I don't really see why you are even at a Cannabis sight. Cancer is sort of a genetic thing there are people who have smoked cigaretts for years and still have pink lungs, so even if cannabis dose cause cancer that dosen't completely mean that if you smoke it you will get cancer. I for one believe that it dosen't cause cancer and haveing smoked it for 10 years of my life if i had gotten cancer from it I would have been noteified therefore I am not positive that it won't I simply believe that it dosen't and as for it killing your children or being a monster a person would have to consum 65 pounds of it to OD and if your children wanted it they can and will get it even if it is illegal that dosen't make it impossible to find. So in conclusion, it is not a terrible thing for a person to indorse there are plenty of worse drugs, alcohol can have similar symptoms on a person or worse. [ Post Comment ] Comment #19 posted by PAXV on August 29, 2001 at 11:46:27 PT: Smoking cannabis doesn't cause cancer? I'm sorry for the typos, but I'm Dutch and English is not my native language.Please explain to me the following:When smoking mariuhana (joints) the user tries to hold the smoke down for longer periodes when comparing to normal cigarettes. This gives the tar more time to adhere to the lungs surface. Dutch studies show that carbonmonoxide levels are about 3-7 times higher, and the adhesion of tar is roughly 5-7 times higher. Could someone then explain me why the smoking of these mariuhanacigarettes (=joints) wouldn't cause cancer?This seems to be a non-thought-out statement and to be honest I've been a smoker for 5 years and have stopped smoking now. Also I can tell you from personal experience even though the withdrawal problems are light ther are physical side-effects.These are: Problems in the digestive systems (constipation), small problems regarding heart rythem (arythmia), higher energy consumption then I was used to( resulting in serious weight loss) . All these problems are minor in effect but annoying still.To all who use mariuhana please be carefull and keep usage down to only a few joints a week. personally I'd say 1 or 2 grams a week should be maximum.My expierences are based on a use of 7 grams a week for the last 5 years. There were periodes I smoked 3 grams a day. The biggest problems regarding mariuhana use shouldn't be sought in the physical or the mental problems which can arise but should be sought in the social effects. People using mariuhana are living in a different emotional state and cannot interact as well with the 'normal' society. [ Post Comment ] Comment #18 posted by Wankatya on June 17, 2001 at 21:43:53 PT: Pharmaceuticals are coated with Lactic Acid I think this conversation is funny. I am lactose intolerant and spend a lot of time reading ingredients on the stuff I buy to ingest. I never have to worry about my mj having lactic acid in it, do I? However, I just found out that most pharmaceuticals are coated with trace amounts of lactic acid to make it taste better(?). So my doctor actually prescribes poison for me while refusing to prescribe mj.The point? You don't have to list lactic acid as an ingredient if it is a trace amount. But a trace amount makes me double up in pain, get the runs, be a total asshole to my family and puke up blood (okay that last one is hyperbolic). Mj is the only thing I've ever found--besides sex and love--that kills the pain of a reaction to lactic acid.I've been smoking mj for over 20 years, and no sign of lung cancer or any other respiratory illness (cept sinusitis from a fist fight when I was wasted on booze--now there's a good alternative to weed, eh?). Give me a break on the threats of any type of health risk from casual mj use. And if you smoke '4 to 6 joints a day,' they are either pinners or you got a lot of friends in the circle. If you smoke that much of kind by yourself, you're gonna have a lot more problems than lung cancer--like being broke cuz the war drives the prices thru the roof. And why smoke anything but kind?Blindsided by Pharmaceutical companies,Wankatya [ Post Comment ] Comment #17 posted by JSM on June 13, 2001 at 09:29:59 PT Frances Interesting how you seem to see the speck in our eyes, but ignore the beam in yours. [ Post Comment ] Comment #16 posted by Frances Basher on June 13, 2001 at 06:17:10 PT I think...... Frances just comes on here to get attention. I've noticed children who are neglected by their parents do things trying to get attention from others. Hey, Frances, are you neglected?? Poor Baby....... [ Post Comment ] Comment #15 posted by DdC on June 12, 2001 at 20:24:56 PT Sorry E Johnson I mistook you for the talking mule Collateral damage.LOLDdC [ Post Comment ] Comment #14 posted by DdC on June 12, 2001 at 20:12:01 PT "Cannabis" Can prevent Cancer "Cannabis" Can prevent CancerRecent research has shown that cannabinoids like anandamide (made in the human body) and THC (from marijuana) can haltand reverse breast cancer. Below is an abstract of one of the studies, which I found through a MEDLINE search. ------------------------------------------------- TITLE: The endogenous cannabinoid anandamide inhibits human breast cancer cell proliferation. AUTHORS: De Petrocellis L; Melck D; Palmisano A; Bisogno T; Laezza C; Bifulco M; Di Marzo V AUTHOR AFFILIATION: Istituto di Cibernetica, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche), Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Via Toiano6, 80072 Arco Felice, Naples, Italy. SOURCE: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 1998 Jul 7;95(14):8375-80 CITATION IDS: PMID: 9653194 UI: 98318665 ABSTRACT: Anandamide was the first brain metabolite shown to act as a ligand of "central" CB1 cannabinoid receptors. Here we report that the endogenous cannabinoid potently and selectively inhibits the proliferation of human breast cancer cells in vitro.Anandamide dose-dependently inhibited the proliferation of MCF-7 and EFM-19 cells with IC50 values between 0.5 and 1.5 microM and 83-92% maximal inhibition at 5-10 microM. The proliferation of several other nonmammary tumoral cell lines was not affected by 10 microM anandamide. The anti proliferative effect of anandamide was not due to toxicity or to apoptosis of cells but was accompanied by a reduction of cells in the S phase of the cell cycle. A stable analogue of anandamide (R)-methanandamide, another endogenous cannabinoid, 2-arachidonoylglycerol, and the synthetic cannabinoid HU-210 also inhibited EFM-19 cell proliferation, whereas arachidonic acid was much less effective. These cannabimimetic substances displaced the binding of the selective cannabinoi d agonist [3H]CP 55, 940 to EFM-19 membranes with an order of potency identical to that observed for the inhibition of EFM-19 cell proliferation. Moreover, anandamide cytostatic effect was inhibited by the selective CB1 receptor antagonist SR 141716A. Cell proliferation was arrested by a prolactin mAb and enhanced by exogenous human prolactin, whose mitogenic action was reverted by very low (0.1-0.5 microM) doses of anandamide. Anandamide suppressed the levels of the long form of the prolactin receptor in both EFM-19 and MCF-7 cells, as well as a typical prolactin-induced response, i.e., the expression of the breast cancer cell susceptibility gene brca1. These data suggest that anandamide blocks human breast cancer cell proliferation through CB1-like receptor- mediated inhibition of endogenous prolactin action at the level of prolactin receptor. Cannabis can prevent cancerhttp://www.ariannaonline.com/discus/messages/4/428.html?SundayDecember1919990144pm [ Post Comment ] Comment #13 posted by DdC on June 12, 2001 at 20:09:28 PT Hogwash E."Nathan"Johnson! Stop the Lies!