Smoking Cannabis May Be More Harmful To Lungs Than Tobacco Study

        Ottawa (AFP) – Cannabis may do more damage to a smoker’s lungs and airways than tobacco, according to a small Canadian study published Tuesday.        

Researchers from the University of Ottawa and The Ottawa Hospital looked at chest X-rays in 56 cannabis smokers, 57 non-smokers and 33 people who smoked only tobacco between 2005 and 2020. They found higher rates of airway inflammation and emphysema — a chronic lung disease — among regular cannabis smokers compared to regular smokers and nonsmokers of tobacco only. “Marijuana smoking is increasing and there is a common perception that marijuana is safe or that it is safer than (tobacco) cigarettes,” Giselle Reva, a radiologist at the Ottawa Hospital, where the research was conducted, told AFP. “But this study raises concerns that this may not be true.” He said the higher rates of inflammation and disease among cannabis smokers versus tobacco may be related to differences in how the drug is typically consumed. “Marijuana is smoked unfiltered, unlike tobacco which is usually filtered,” he said. “When you smoke unfiltered marijuana, more particles get into your airways, get deposited there and irritate your airways.” Also, he added, “people typically take longer inhales and hold the smoke in their lungs longer for marijuana, which can lead to more trauma to those airspaces.” Despite these possible explanations, the authors of the study, which was published in the journal Radiology, stressed that some of the cannabis smokers also smoked tobacco and that some of the lung scans produced inconclusive results, meaning more study is needed. As Revah noted, there is very little research on the health effects of cannabis overall, as it is banned in most countries. Canada, where the researchers are based, legalized the recreational use of cannabis in 2018. It is also legal for recreational use in Uruguay and Mexico, among other countries, and in several US states, while several other countries and territories have also recently decriminalized possession of the drug or approved it for medical use. © 2022 AFP