Does smoking legal pot cause cancer?

Cainkane1 said:
With pot about to be legalized in many states is it possible to get cancer from smoking the weed?
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There is some evidence that it is a possibility. Remember, when you are smoking, you are inhaling lots of burning hydrocarbons. (Although I don't think the issue is completely decided.)

For example: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2516340/
The risk of lung cancer increased 8% (95% CI 2% to 15%) for each joint-year of cannabis smoking, after adjustment for confounding variables...

Now, on the other hand, the risk is much smaller than cigarette smoking, for a couple of reasons:
- People tend to smoke less of it
- There is the possibility that some of the compounds in pot may counteract the damages caused by smoking in the first place
 
Argumemnon said:
No more or less than smoking illegal pot.
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Beat me to it. However, illegal pot may (and often does) have adulterants which make it more problematic than the supposedly regulated legal stuff. And some of those adulterants will kill you more quickly than any carcinogens. And adulterants aside, pot has fewer industrial chemicals than cigarette tobacco.
 
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Why are you focusing just on lung diseases? There are other well established health risks associated with smoking marijuana.
 
Argumemnon said:
No more or less than smoking illegal pot.
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Depending on how its legalized, I figured legal pot would be a little bit safer, since legal producers may have government controls about what goes into the product (e.g. pesticides/fertilizers used, any additives, etc.) whereas illegal growers could add rat droppings and other stuff, which would bump up the risk a little bit.
 
Cainkane1 said:
With pot about to be legalized in many states is it possible to get cancer from smoking the weed? How about emphysema?
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As far as I know, there has never been even so much as one case of someone getting lung cancer or emphysema from pot.
 
theprestige said:
What adulterants? Are they cutting the bud with GMO pine nuts?
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From: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/scie...ften-laced-heavy-metals-and-fungus-180954696/
...modern marijuana mostly lacks the components touted as beneficial by medical marijuana advocates, and it is often contaminated with fungi, pesticides and heavy metals.
...
Washington, the second state to legalize recreational marijuana, does require such testing for microbial agents like E. coli, salmonella and yeast mold, and officials there rejected about 13 percent of the marijuana products offered for sale in 2014.
...
Concentrates and edibles (think brownies) make up perhaps half of the current Colorado market. Their makers sometimes suggest that their chosen products are healthier than standard weed because they don't involve frequent smoking. But some manufacturers employ potentially harmful compounds like butane to strip the plant of most everything but THC. Tests also show that marijuana plants can draw in heavy metals from the soil in which they are grown.

Now, legalizing it alone won't necessarily fix any of these problems. It would require legalizing it AND setting standards.

ETA: Technically, things like fungus and/or heavy metals aren't adulterants, as they weren't specifically added. But they are contaminants.
 
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CBD oil supposedly shrinks tumors. But I would want some that is THC free.
 
Tests also show that marijuana plants can draw in heavy metals from the soil in which they are grown.
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Is this a real concern? If so, should we be concerned about vegetables drawing in heavy metals?
 
casebro said:
CBD oil supposedly shrinks tumors. But I would want some that is THC free.
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From the article I posted above, it appears that the opposite is happening...

Marijuana is becoming more potent (higher THC levels), but CBD levels are dropping. (And supposedly CBD is being investigated for treating Huntington's disease, Alzheimers, anxiety, etc.)
 
Crossbow said:
As far as I know, there has never been even so much as one case of someone getting lung cancer or emphysema from pot.
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Given that a causal link on an individual level is extremely difficult to pin down (which is why theses studies are done on a population wide basis), your claim is at once unfalsifiable, and unreasonable.
 
William Parcher said:
Re: Heavy Metals in pot...
Is this a real concern? If so, should we be concerned about vegetables drawing in heavy metals?
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I have no idea how much of a concern it is. Quite possible that its not an issue at all. But we know many of these substances are dangerous at higher levels, so we may want to avoid them at any levels if we can.

I think the difference between pot and vegetables is that pot (for most people) is simply for recreation, while vegetables provide a needed food source for many/post people (So any harm that's caused is counteracted by its benefits) and something that can't easily be replaced.

There may also be differences in the way the chemicals are ingested... smoking may allow better access through the lungs for any heavy metals than eating would through the intestinal tract, although I'd defer my opinion to anyone with an actual medical background.
 
Speaking of heavy metal, Here's an interesting case:

https://www.webmd.com/smoking-cessation/news/20080409/smoke-pot-get-lead-poisoning
Doctors in Germany have linked a mysterious outbreak of lead intoxication to contaminated street supplies of marijuana.
...
Busse writes that police suspect street dealers of deliberately lacing street bags of marijuana with the toxic metal in an effort to increase profits.
 
Crossbow said:
Given that a causal link on an individual level is extremely difficult to pin down (which is why theses studies are done on a population wide basis), your claim is at once unfalsifiable, and unreasonable.
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Excuse me, but I did not make a claim.
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Your earlier statement was: As far as I know, there has never been even so much as one case of someone getting lung cancer or emphysema from pot.

To me, that suggests that you were not only suggesting that there is no link at all between pot and lung cancer (something I provided evidence for earlier on, which you seem to have ignored) but you also seem to be seeking evidence on a case-by-case basis that marijuana was the cause of any person's cancer.
 
Cainkane1 said:
With pot about to be legalized in many states is it possible to get cancer from smoking the weed? How about emphysema?
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Probably, but I don't think there are many people who inhale as much pot smoke per day as a pack-a-day smoker.


ETA: Snopes links to two studies that say pot doesn't have an observable cancer risk, even in heavy smokers.
 
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Segnosaur said:
Speaking of heavy metal, Here's an interesting case:

https://www.webmd.com/smoking-cessation/news/20080409/smoke-pot-get-lead-poisoning
Doctors in Germany have linked a mysterious outbreak of lead intoxication to contaminated street supplies of marijuana.
...
Busse writes that police suspect street dealers of deliberately lacing street bags of marijuana with the toxic metal in an effort to increase profits.
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Lacing with lead. What, is it shavings or shot? They must have gotten the answer by examining the stuff.
 
William Parcher said:
Is this a real concern? If so, should we be concerned about vegetables drawing in heavy metals?
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It's usually in amounts so small as to be insignificant outside of scientific analysis. When I was a lead paint inspector, part of the job was to use ordinary baby wipes to collect the dust from a 1 square foot area, which would then be tested for lead. We were told not to use wipes that contained aloe vera because they might contain traces of lead that the plant had extracted from the soil. However, the EPA clearance level for lead dust on floors is 40 micrograms per square foot, so it wouldn't take much contamination to throw off the analysis.
The main source of lead exposure is touching surfaces contaminated with traces of lead dust generated by the natural wear of lead painted surfaces or disturbing contaminated soil, not ingestion.
 
William Parcher said:
Lacing with lead. What, is it shavings or shot? They must have gotten the answer by examining the stuff.
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The article just said 'small lead particles'. They didn't go into detail about the exact size or shape, only that the particles were too big to be as a result of natural growth/absorbtion.
 
Segnosaur said:
The article just said 'small lead particles'. They didn't go into detail about the exact size or shape, only that the particles were too big to be as a result of natural growth/absorbtion.
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Why did they conclude that the street dealer was adding the particles rather than somebody further up the chain?
 
Segnosaur said:
Your earlier statement was: As far as I know, there has never been even so much as one case of someone getting lung cancer or emphysema from pot.

To me, that suggests that you were not only suggesting that there is no link at all between pot and lung cancer (something I provided evidence for earlier on, which you seem to have ignored) but you also seem to be seeking evidence on a case-by-case basis that marijuana was the cause of any person's cancer.
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Well then, your are wrong.

I just stated the facts of the situation as best as I know them to be and that is hardly the same thing as making a claim.
 
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William Parcher said:
Re: lead contamination in Marijuana...

Why did they conclude that the street dealer was adding the particles rather than somebody further up the chain?
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I have no idea. None of what I've read gives information about that.

It could have been added by the growers themselves before distributing it to the street dealers. But ultimately does it really matter? The point is, people were buying stuff that had no control for contaminants, an as a result they were exposed to excessive levels of lead.
 
Crossbow said:
You are wrong. I did not make a claim.

I stated the facts as best as I know them to be and that is hardly the same thing as making a claim.
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There's a bit of a classic. Why bother posting anything at all, then? Funny thing is you've gone and called them facts, again, with another little caveat. Every single person reading your piece will see you making a claim that smoking this stuff hasn't caused as single case of lung cancer of emphysema, and sticking "as far as I know" in front of it doesn't negate that. It just means we should treat your claim with caution.

You're trying to wriggle out of something that you shouldn't have wriggled into.
 
MikeG said:
There's a bit of a classic. Why bother posting anything at all, then?
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I posted my reply because someone asked for a reply.

If you do like my reply or if do not like my reply, then you are quite at liberty to do either. However, that does not change the fact as to why I posted my reply.

Funny thing is you've gone and called them facts, again, with another little caveat. Every single person reading your piece will see you making a claim that smoking this stuff hasn't caused as single case of lung cancer of emphysema, and sticking "as far as I know" in front of it doesn't negate that. It just means we should treat your claim with caution.

You're trying to wriggle out of something that you shouldn't have wriggled into.
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Ok then. If I am ever able to get a few hundred thousand dollars to thoroughly research this issue, then I will make sure to inform you as to the result.

But in the meantime, my best understanding of the facts will have to do in the meantime.

Also, I did not make a claim and clearly qualified my own statement on this issue, so I still fail to see just what it is that you are so terribly upset about.
 
Crossbow said:
As far as I know, there has never been even so much as one case of someone getting lung cancer or emphysema from pot.
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That's one hell of a statement without ANY corroboration. This study suggests that you are ill-informed. To my (poorly educated ) view it suggests smoking joints of cannabis is worse than smoking packs of cigarettes!

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2516340/
 
Loss Leader said:
ETA: Snopes links to two studies that say pot doesn't have an observable cancer risk, even in heavy smokers.
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Yes, snopes does reference 2 studies that show no link. And here is a third that shows no link:

http://www8.nationalacademies.org/o...ID=24625&_ga=1.166210365.208024799.1434990546

(Note: that is a meta-study, so it may already take into account the 2 that were listed in Snopes.)

On the other hand, we have

http://nationalpost.com/news/canada...uble-risk-of-lung-cancer-canadian-study-finds
Relatively heavy smoking of marijuana may as much as double the risk of someone contracting lung cancer, suggests a new, Canadian-led study that adds nuance to the debates over medical marijuana and outright legalization.The study, which contradicts other recent research that concluded the connection was all but non-existent, looked at a large group of Swedish men who were surveyed about their lifestyles in 1969-70, then tracked over the subsequent 40 years.
(To be honest, the article does suggest that not all researchers are convinced of the results of this study.)

We also have the study I referred to way back at the start of the thread.

So some studies that show a link, some show no link.

There are problems trying to analyze the health concerns of pot smoking:
- Often pot smokers also use tobacco, so isolating the health effects of one vs. the other is difficult
- The composition of pot can vary, both over time and between strains, so you're dealing with different mixtures of chemicals. (For example, as I posted before, the level of THC is higher and CBD is lower than it was decades ago. CBD is one of the chemicals that may inhibit tumor growth. Over time, this may change the risks of smoking.)
 
Crossbow said:
........ I still fail to see just what it is that you are so terribly upset about.
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What on earth gave you that idea?

You made a claim. You continue to wriggle. We can all see that, and it's amusing. I'm not in the least upset.
 
Mikemcc said:
That's one hell of a statement without ANY corroboration. This study suggests that you are ill-informed. To my (poorly educated ) view it suggests smoking joints of cannabis is worse than smoking packs of cigarettes!

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2516340/
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Thanks much for sharing this important information. It is most helpful.

However, I was not making some sort of definitive claim on this issue. Instead, I was simply giving my best view of the facts as I understood them to be when I wrote that post you are so terribly incensed about.
 
Originally Posted by Peregrinus:
Beat me to it. However, illegal pot may (and often does) have adulterants which make it more problematic than the supposedly regulated legal stuff.

theprestige:
What adulterants? Are they cutting the bud with GMO pine nuts?

You might consider the partial list of troublesome and/or downright scary things listed in several places; here's just one link.
https://americanaddictioncenters.org/marijuana-rehab/what-can-marijuana-be-laced-with/

"Angel Dust" is at least from the '70's; as mentioned in the article, many psychotropic/psychedelic substances might be present, sometimes in near-lethal amount depending on the smoker's general state of health.
 
I vape nicotine. Haven't vaped any THC-containing products in decades but it's an option in some markets. I'd like to believe that excluding a lot of the burning material would mean less exposure to carcinogens, but I have not really investigated recently.
 
Minoosh said:
I vape nicotine. Haven't vaped any THC-containing products in decades but it's an option in some markets. I'd like to believe that excluding a lot of the burning material would mean less exposure to carcinogens, but I have not really investigated recently.
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This might be seen as hitting yourself on the head with a less heavy hammer.
 
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