Smoking cannabis can cause severe lung damage Options

[Hey Hey]

'My lungs are damaged beyond repair'
By Zoe Smeaton
BBC News


Smoking cannabis can cause severe lung damage
The holes in Samantha Wilson's lungs are getting bigger.
There is no cure for her illness and if it continues to get worse it will eventually kill her.

Samantha is 37 and has emphysema, a progressive condition normally associated with older people who have smoked tobacco regularly throughout their lives.

Samantha's doctor, Dr Onn Min Kon, a consultant physician of respiratory medicine at St Mary's Hospital in London, believes her cannabis smoking may be to blame for her condition.

Dr Kon said he had several other young patients who smoke cannabis and have lung diseases normally seen only in older tobacco smokers.

He said: "I've got a collection of young people who have lungs that look like they're 65-year-olds."

Such case studies have prompted Dr Kon to plan a study comparing the lungs of patients who smoke cannabis with those who smoke only tobacco.


If I don't stop smoking I won't be around much longer... there should be adverts showing people like me
Samantha Wilson

When Samantha, of Maida Vale, London, was diagnosed with emphysema at the age of 34 she had been smoking cannabis for 20 years.

She had begun by smoking two joints a day, but was eventually smoking up to 10 a day.

According to the latest figures from charity Action on Smoking and Health, the average tobacco smoker smokes between 13 and 14 cigarettes every day.

Samantha believes she is living proof of the effects cannabis can have on lungs.

She said: "If I don't stop smoking I won't be around much longer - there is no cure for emphysema, the holes in my lungs are getting bigger.

"There should be adverts showing people like me."



Dr Kon uses images of his patients' lungs to assess damage


When smoked, cannabis produces many of the same chemicals as a tobacco cigarette, but may damage the airways to a greater extent.

In a 2002 report, the British Lung Foundation estimated that three to four cannabis cigarettes a day were associated with the same amount of damage to the lungs as 20 or more tobacco cigarettes a day.

So far though, it has been difficult to separate the effects of cannabis smoking from those of tobacco smoking in patients, as many users smoke both.


In his study, Dr Kon will use lung function tests and CT scan pictures to look for lung damage.

Such a study using CT scans has not been done before and Dr Kon said even people with apparently normal lung function could have problems, such as holes in their lungs, which would show up on these scans.

He said these people may have no symptoms but could still have respiratory diseases.


EMPHYSEMA
Emphysema is a normal feature of ageing
The alveoli, or small lung cells, become damaged
The condition develops progressively, causing "holes" in the lungs
The lungs lose their elasticity and breathing is difficult
Smoking accelerates the ageing process in lungs
In some people the damage becomes noticeable in their lifetime

Previously the link between emphysema and cannabis smoking has been difficult to prove, and the risks are often overlooked by people, who are generally concerned only about lung cancer.

Samantha said: "I'd never even heard of emphysema when I was diagnosed, and I don't think people know there is a risk of getting it."

The British Lung Foundation also called for more awareness of the issue.

A spokesperson said: "Research carried out by the British Lung Foundation found that smoking cannabis alone can cause severe lung damage.

"It is vital that people are fully aware of the dangers so they can make an educated choice and know the risks fully."

[Technologist]

This is why one should use a *vaporizer*.

[Technologist]

She had begun by smoking two joints a day, but was eventually smoking up to 10 a day.

She smoked 10 joints a day! Sweet baby jezuz, no wonder why she's having respiratory problems.

People who whine about the consequences after the fact really annoy me. "I got Emphysema from smoking 10 joints a day."

No shit sherlock.

[Technologist]

Dennis Leary - No Cure for Cancer

There's a guy- I don't know if you've heard about this guy, he's been on the news a lot lately. There's a guy- he's English, I don't think we should hold that against him, but apparently this is just his life's dream because he is going from country to country. He has a senate hearing in this country coming up in a couple of weeks. And this is what he wants to do. He wants to make the warnings on the packs bigger. Yeah! He wants the whole front of the pack to be the warning. Like the problem is we just haven't noticed yet. Right? Like he's going to get his way and all of the sudden smokers around the world are going to be going, "Yeah, Bill, I've got some cigarettes.. HOLY SHIT! These things are bad for you! Shit, I thought they were good for you! I thought they had Vitamin C in them and stuff!" You F**KING dolt! Doesn't matter how big the warnings are. You could have cigarettes that were called the warnings. You could have cigarrets that come in a black pack, with a skull and a cross bone on the front, called tumors and smokers would be lined up around the block going, "I can't wait to get my hands on these F**KING things! I bet you get a tumor as soon as you light up! Numm Numm Numm Numm Numm" Doesn't matter how big the warnings are or how much they cost. Keep raising the prices, we'll break into your houses to get the F**KING cigarettes, ok!? There a drug, we're addicted, ok!? Numm Numm Numm Numm Numm *wheeze*

[xanadu]

That article is an example of garbage journalism. You see a lot of that these days in tabloids like the Inquirer. You will notice that the article does not cite any scientific studies it just quotes individuals spouting their opinions. That's the sort of junk the government spouts to keep it illegal.

There are many verified benefits from the herb. Here is an excerpt from an article that gives a little more balanced view while not taking side.

I can't post a link to the article because of the ridiculous rules in place.

Medical Marijuana Slowly Gains Ground
Clinical Studies Begin to Replace Emotion with Evidence
By Daniel J. DeNoon
WebMD Medical News

August 29, 2003 -- A sea change in science is slowly turning the tide of the medical marijuana debate.

For hundreds of years, marijuana has been used to treat a wide variety of illnesses. But the herb has been illegal throughout the modern era of scientific medical research. Patients swear the drug works to relieve pain, prevent seizures, and counteract the nausea-inducing effects of cancer chemotherapy. But by today's standards, there's no definitive proof that this is so.

Why not? Nearly all U.S.-funded marijuana research has looked for harmful effects from using marijuana as a recreational drug. Meanwhile, there's been little money -- and huge regulatory hurdles -- for studies of marijuana's benefits. That's now changing despite the fact that marijuana remains classed as a Schedule I drug -- a dangerous compound with no medical uses.

Why now? Evidence is beginning to break down the wall of emotion preventing medical marijuana research.

Expert Panels, Breakthrough Findings

It was never clear exactly how marijuana -- which scientists call cannabis -- exerted its euphoria-inducing effects on the brain. Then, in the 1980s, a series of breakthrough studies showed that the body actually makes its own cannabis-like compounds -- cannabinoids.

Why are they there? That question led to the discovery that the body has an entire system based on cannabinoid signals. The signals seem to calm down overexcited nerve cells, says Igor Grant, MD, professor of psychiatry and director of the Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research (CMCR) at the University of California, San Diego.

"It may be the cannabinoid systems -- this is a crude example -- but I think of them as our internal shock absorbers," Grant tells WebMD. "They are circuits that prevent overexcitability, kind of dampers. If that's correct, there are going to be a number of medical applications. For example, I wouldn't be surprised if there were applications for epilepsy and other types of seizures."

Grant isn't the only scientist excited by these possibilities.

In 1997, a National Institutes of Health expert panel concluded that more needs to be known about possible marijuana benefits. In 1999, the Institute of Medicine agreed. It pointed to several areas crying out for clinical marijuana research, notes CMCR co-director Andrew Mattison, PhD.

"There are cannabinoid receptor systems in the brain areas that regulate motion -- and, in retrospect, we know that people with multiple sclerosis and difficulty with spasticity sometimes use medicinal cannabis. That is one of the Institute of Medicine indications for clinical trials," Mattison tells WebMD.

[Rick]

And cannabis is known to be a consciousness expanding agent.

[Hey Hey]

yerrr, let the athletes take their steroids (muscle expanding agents)

[Rick]

yerrr, let the athletes take their steroids (muscle expanding agents)

That would be harmful to young or non-professional athletes who would have to take steroids to have a chance of being competitive. Steroids are especially harmful to the young. So the sports drug testing laws and regulations are good and reasonable.

On the other hand, the chess players, both amateurs and professionals, do not allow drug testing in their sport. However, there has never been a chess performance enhancing drug positively identified. Not even amphetamine. If he takes too much stimulant, a player gets too nervous to make good decisions.

A chess player must sit still and stay focused for hours at a time. Some players have experimented with combining amphetamine with cannabis with inconclusive results. Coffee and cigars are the traditional chess player drugs of choice.

[code buttons]

That article is an example of garbage journalism. You see a lot of that these days in tabloids like the Inquirer. You will notice that the article does not cite any scientific studies it just quotes individuals spouting their opinions. That's the sort of junk the government spouts to keep it illegal.

fu**ing conservatives and hypocrite politicians are at it again. Now they Hey Hey on their side too! A scientist quoting a National Enquirer-like quality article!

I can't post a link to the article because of the ridiculous rules in place.

There's something wrong with this picture. According to the forum rules, you can post links after you've posted ten or more times on the forum. Xanadu has ten plus a hundred of those. Have the politician and hedious lords of this world (the ones who got Hey Hey already) taken-over BM already? What kind of new censorship are we under now here at BM? Shawn or Lucid or... sombody?

On a side note: That's a pretty cool quote you got in your signature there, Xanadu. Very true to the times we're living in here in the U.S.A. I never read it before.

[trojan_libido]

Unforunately, giving up smoking is not the topic!

HEADLINE: STANDING OVER A CHIMNEY/BEHIND A CAR/NEAR A BONFIRE CAN CAUSE RESPIRATORY DISEASES

Yawn.

[oanadoledo]

Cannabis has traditionally (in the UK) been smoked in a tobacco mixture, it's strongly advised that you do not mix cannabis with this dangerous and addictive drug. It is still the most popular way of using cannabis however.

[Hey Hey]

Yes,iam agree with this that the smoking is lead to lung damage.No not only the lungs damage many others part of body.The peaople who are smoking know taht smoking is injurious to health.This sentence also written on packets of cigratte.By smoking poluntion also created in air.In order to save every people should stop smoking.

As was stated above, this topic is NOT about cigarettes, even in the form of cigratte!

[Trip like I do]

.... it's strongly advised that you do not mix cannabis with this dangerous and addictive drug. It is still the most popular way of using cannabis however.

lol.... not here in canada,! Never mix your drugs kiddies

[devnty06]

Smoking cannabis is like 5 times severe than smoking tobacco...

[davijones]

When smoked, cannabis produces many of the same chemicals as a tobacco cigarette, but may damage the airways to a greater extent. Smoking cannabis can cause severe lung damage
The holes in Samantha Wilson's lungs are getting bigger.
There is no cure for her illness and if it continues to get worse it will eventually kill her.

[turboracetam]

smoking or using any other such stuff which isnt meant to be consumed will always be dangerous and it is always going to leave a mark... we humans cant escape the bitter reality that we are made up of flesh and meat