Pubdate: Thu, 04 Feb 2016
Source: Washington Post (DC)
Copyright: 2016 The Washington Post Company
Contact:  http://www.washingtonpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/491
Author: Matthew L. Springer
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v16/n062/a04.html

SECONDHAND MARIJUANA SMOKE IS HARMFUL, JUST LIKE TOBACCO SMOKE

The Jan. 31 front-page article "D.C. rules on smoking pot may go down 
in flames" described a "cloud of marijuana smoke" that rose from the 
audience at a Grateful Dead concert. That means the nonsmokers at the 
event were forced to inhale secondhand smoke. I doubt it would have 
been tolerated if audience members had lit tobacco cigarettes in the arena.

Amid the controversies surrounding marijuana legalization, it's 
important to understand that smoked marijuana is not just a drug. 
There's a legitimate cardiovascular-health concern about exposure to 
the smoke itself, because secondhand marijuana smoke is similar to 
secondhand tobacco smoke, which impairs proper functioning of the arteries.

Secondhand marijuana smoke impairs arterial function, and its effect 
is more extreme and lasts longer than that of secondhand tobacco 
smoke, potentially increasing the chances of heart attack and stroke. 
Exposing the public to secondhand marijuana smoke may put people at 
greater risk than if tobacco smoking were allowed in that space. 
However legal pot use is regulated, it should be understood that the 
adverse health effects of secondhand marijuana smoke exposure are not 
just hypothetical. Public smoke-free policies should include marijuana smoke.

Matthew L. Springer, San Francisco The writer is a professor at the 
Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education at the University 
of California at San Francisco.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom