Cannabis 'worse than tobacco'

BBC News ^ | 10 July 2002

[SheLion]

Cannabis poses a greater threat to health than tobacco, lung experts have warned.

The warning comes on the day that Home Secretary David Blunkett is due to make a Commons statement about the future of government drug policy.

Many young people are simply not aware that smoking cannabis may put them at increased risk of respiratory cancers and infections .

Dame Helena Shovelton:

The Home Affairs Select Committee has recommended that cannabis is downgraded from a class B drug to class C. This would mean that possession would lead to a caution, rather than arrest.

The British Lung Foundation is currently carrying out a review of research into the impact of smoking cannabis on health.

Preliminary results suggest that the drug is at least as harmful as smoking tobacco - and may carry a higher risk of some respiratory cancers.

Ignorance

BLF chief executive Dame Helena Shovelton said: "Many young people are simply not aware that smoking cannabis may put them at increased risk of respiratory cancers and infections.

"The government spends millions of pounds a year on smoking cessation and public education about the dangers of smoking, yet smoking cannabis is at least as harmful as smoking tobacco and, indeed, may carry a higher risk of some respiratory cancers."

She said regardless of cannabis's legal status, many young people will make their own decision about whether they wish to use it or not.

"The government have a public health responsibility to ensure they do so with full knowledge of the risks associated with smoking cannabis," she said.

"Fifty years ago, people thought smoking was a good thing. Now it is described as a public health disaster - we don't want to see the same thing happen with cannabis."

Under estimate:

The report is also expected to warn that research carried out in the 1960s and 1970s may underestimate the impact of today's cannabis since it is much more potent than the cannabis smoked then.

The average cannabis cigarette smoked in the 1960s contained about 10mg of D9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the ingredient which accounts for the psychoactive properties of cannabis, compared to 150mg of THC today.

British Lung Foundation chairman Dr Mark Britton said: "There is an urgent need for more research into the effects of cannabis on respiratory health so that we can feel confident in the advice we give to young people.

"As a respiratory consultant physician, I see the devastating consequences of smoking-related lung diseases, such as emphysema and chronic obstructive airways diseases, every day and I am fearful that long-term cannabis smoking may be linked to similar conditions."

[HELLRAISER II]

You bring up a very valid point, several years ago if anybody said that there would be a chance cigarettes would also be illegal the people would've just called you a nutcase. But look at the laws now and the position that people are taking towards smokers. Man it's illegal in some parts to smoke in the wrong neighborhood because it might blow in their window.
For all you people out there that smoke cigarettes but are super critical on pot, think about the possibility that you may be added to the list of lawbreakers of prohibited products.

[Gabz]

For all you people out there that smoke cigarettes but are super critical on pot, think about the possibility that you may be added to the list of lawbreakers of prohibited products.

I agree with you.

OTOH, some of the most virulent anti-smokers I have personally encountered are heavy duty pot smokers. I know one woman that would sit in her living room and smoke a joint, but no one could smoke a cigarette in her house, including her husband because the second hand smoke would hurt their 9 year old daughter.

I've got nothing against pot smoking, I did my fair share of it when I was in college, but can someone tell me which exposure is more unhealthy for a 9 year old - dad smoking a cigarette or mom getting stoned everynight after work?

[HELLRAISER II]

Either/or send the kid to a different room.

[Virginia-American]

Creme de Cannabe, anyone?

[Kerberos]

"Not that I'm advocating anything relating to pot smoking, but it humorous that not a single shred of evidence is presented in this story - not even a hint at fact - to back the assertions of the headline or of the story itself. "

That would be because there is none. This line of attack was debunked years ago.

[Nate505]

I for one have never said, nor heard anyone else say, that tobacco smokers are more demonized than pot smokers

Well, I don't know what point the original poster is trying to get with this quote:

"Yes! Protect the WEED! It's ok to smoke WEED but heaven help us if we smoke tobacco!"

Like there are a ton of people out there who believe that all these people out here are saying it's ok to smoke weed, but not to smoke tobacco, suggesting that one is demonized over the other, when one can still buy tobacco at the store and still smoke in many restraunts (well, not in California) and bars and certinaly at home, while the other can have the person arrested if they buy or smoke it anywhere.

But in some ways it is true - everyone is not continually being bombarded with news stories that pot causes everything from alzheimers to zits day in and day out the way you do about tobacco.

Of course, primarily because it's legal and you need to attack a legal product to make it illegal. With pot, they already have the upper hand, and don't need to attack it much. When people suggest the possibility of legalizing weed, you will find the same articles about pot, although I'm not to quite sure about it causing zits : )

I think pot being illegal is ridiculous - what I and many others are trying to do is keep tobacco from going the way of pot. When we accomplish that, I will be more than happy to turn my energies to re-legalizing marijuana.

I appreciate that, and for my part, I have never voted for any type of tobacco legislation. I can tolerate tobacco smokers being upset at the idea of more taxes and restrictions alone, but I can't tolerate a person saying that pot smokers are favored anywhere more than tobacco smokers are, because it's certainly not true.

[jodorowsky]

Fifty years ago, people thought smoking was a good thing.

Oh sure they did, that's why they called them "cancer sticks" and "coffin nails."