Pubdate: Sun, 26 Nov 2000
Source: New Zealand Herald (New Zealand)
Copyright: 2000 New Zealand Herald
Contact:  PO Box 32, Auckland, New Zealand
Fax: (09) 373-6421
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Author: Scott MacLeod

MARIJUANA HAS THE HEALTH RISKS OF TOBACCO SAY RESEARCHERS

Smoking cannabis five times a week does as much lung damage as 20 
cigarettes a day, causing disease, phlegm and coughing fits.

That is the verdict of Otago researchers who studied the lungs of 943 
people aged 21 and whose findings will be published next month in the 
international journal Addiction.

The Otago University respiratory research group looked at symptoms such as 
wheezing, shortness of breath, early morning coughing and sputum production.

It found that 36 per cent of cannabis-dependent smokers had those symptoms, 
followed by smokers of 21-plus cigarettes a day (29 per cent), 10-20 
cigarettes a day (24 per cent), and up to 10 cigarettes a day (17 per cent).

Twenty per cent of non-smokers had the symptoms, some of them from asthma.

The head of the study, Associate Professor Robin Taylor, said the results 
showed cannabis had a similar effect on the lungs to tobacco and was 
therefore just as likely to cause chronic bronchitis, emphysema and lung 
cancer.

Asked to interpret the figures, he said smoking cannabis five times a week 
would have similar effects to a daily pack of cigarettes. The cannabis 
smokers were not asked how much they smoked during each session.

The research team reported being struck by the fact that the effects of 
smoking were noticeable at such a young age, 21, and that two-thirds of the 
cannabis-dependent subjects had used the drug for less than three years.

It said the report was "ground-breaking" because of the great number of 
people studied.

But the National Organisation for the Reform of Marijuana Laws said the 
cannabis users were obviously heavy smokers, and studies overseas had found 
fewer health problems with the drug.

National coordinator Chris Fowlie said that taking any smoke - not just 
marijuana - into the lungs was bad. He urged cannabis users to smoke 
through a good-quality water pipe or vaporiser, or eat their weed.

"Eating it will give more of a body-stone," he said, "otherwise you should 
only smoke the highest-quality gear rather than a sackload of cabbage."

The Asthma and Respiratory Foundation issued a cannabis "fact sheet" 
warning that the drug was dangerous.

Its medical director, Associate Professor Ian Town, said the research 
scotched claims that cannabis was less harmful than tobacco. Even though 
cannabis users tended to smoke smaller amounts than cigarette users, they 
also took deeper breaths and held the smoke in their lungs longer.

"Marijuana smoke - like tobacco smoke - can trigger asthma symptoms in some 
people when inhaled either directly or in the form of secondhand smoke."
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