Cannabis ‘increases cancer risk’

Heres a detailed study and result of long the term effects of smoking cannabis. Epidemiological data presented last May at the International Conference of the American Thoracic Society (ATS) concluding that smoking marijuana, even long-term, is not positively associated with increased incidence of lung-cancer, is just the latest in a long line of government claims regarding the alleged dangers of pot to go � pardon the pun � up in smoke.

Investigators from the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California assessed the possible association between cannabis use and the risk of lung cancer in middle-aged adults (ages 18�59) living in Los Angeles. Researchers conducted interviews with 611 subjects with lung cancer and 1,040 controls matched for age, gender, and neighborhood. Data was collected on lifetime marijuana use, as well as subjects’ use of alcohol, tobacco and other drugs, diet, occupation, and family history of cancer. Investigators used a logistical regression model to estimate the effect of cannabis smoking on lung cancer risk, adjusting for age, gender, ethnicity, education, cumulative tobacco smoking, and alcohol use.

“We did not observe a positive association of marijuana use � even heavy long-term use � with lung cancer, controlling for tobacco smoking and other potential cofounders,” investigators concluded. Moreover, their data further revealed that one subset of moderate lifetime users actually had an inverse association between cannabis use and lung cancer. Much less surprising, the NIH-funded study � the largest of its type ever conducted � did find a 20-fold increased risk in heavy tobacco smokers.

Officials from the White House�s Drug Czar�s office had “no comment” on the UCLA findings.

While the investigators� failure to demonstrate a positive association between cannabis use and cancer may seem surprising to some, the bottom line is that scientists overseas have been studying pot�s potential anti-cancer properties for nearly a decade. Most recently, investigators at Italy’s Instuto di Chemica Biomolecolare reported in the May issue of the Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics that compounds in marijuana inhibit cancer cell growth in animals and in culture on a wide range of tumor cell lines, including human breast carcinoma cells, human prostate carcinoma cells, and human colectoral carcinoma cells.

Previous studies by European researchers have shown that cannabis� constituents can reduce the size and halt the spread of glioma (brain tumor) cells in animals and humans in a dose dependent manner. Separate preclinical studies have also shown marijuana to inhibit cancer cell growth and selectively trigger malignant cell death in skin cancer cells, leukemic cells, and lung cancer cells, among other cancerous cell lines.

But none of these findings should come as a surprise to the US government, which ironically, sponsored the first experiment ever documenting pot’s anti-cancer effects in 1974 at the Medical College of Virginia. The results of that study, reported in an August 18, 1974, Washington Post newspaper feature, were that marijuana’s primary psychoactive component “THC slowed the growth of lung cancers, breast cancers and a virus-induced leukemia in laboratory mice, and prolonged their lives by as much as 36 percent.”

Shockingly, federal officials have steadfastly refused to fund any follow up research on the subject in the following decades, and today continue to oppose any use of cannabis � even for medical purposes in states that have authorized its use. What�s the Fed�s rational for maintaining such a foolish and misguided policy? Most likely, they have “no comment.” Also the statement that cannabis kills brain cells is also wrong. It was an experiment on monkeys that brought about this myth. Monkeys were forced to wear masks and breathe cannabis smoke for 5 minutes a few times a day. After 90 days the monkeys had died, tests were conducted and they found a decrease in brain cells. It was then claimed that cannabis kills brain cell. What people were not told was that if your brain goes 4 minutes without oxigen brain cells start to die off. When the experiment was conducted years later PROPERLY there was only sign of positive effects on the monkeys, and this experiment is almost unheard of. up to half a million people die each year in america as a cause of tabacco and similar with alcohol. No one has ever died of smoking cannabis EVER. There are also hundreds of medical uses for cannabis. Oil, plastics, metal, paper and clothes can also be made with the male cannabis plant hemp. These hemp products are also enviromentally safe. On top of that a hemp plant takes to years to grow and mature, as appose to a tree with takes a lifetime. Hemps seeds could also feed the developing world. If cannabis was legal it would take it out of the criminal hands, lowering crime. If cannabis was legalised it would provide many jobs bringing employment rates up. So why is the worlds most valuable plant illegal again?

Interesting. Would you care to provide a link to the studies you have highlighted so that the rest of our readers can make an informed decision?

Thank you in advance