I'm replying to your post where you quote the old Tashkin incorrect study.
quote from new information:
No Major Link Found Between Heavy Cannabis Use And Lung Cancer
Some surprising results from a comprehensive survey indicate that even heavy, Cheech & Chong levels of cannabis use do not result in increased rates of lung cancer.
If anything, smoking pot may actually reduce the likelihood of developing the disease.
There have been numerous, widely disclaimed, studies over the decades spelling out the cancer-fighting potential of THC, the active ingredient in cannabis. But it's a rare day that you see this kind of information written up in a prominent American newspaper.
Can you say controversy?
50 million regular pot smokers around the world would declare they already knew that cannabis doesn't cause cancer, and may actually destroy cancer-causing cells, but it's still pretty astounding to see such research results aired so publicly, after extremely effective, decades long demonisation of any use of cannabis, even high-protein cannabis seeds in food products.
From the San Francisco Chronicle :
The largest study of its kind has unexpectedly concluded that smoking marijuana, even regularly and heavily, does not lead to lung cancer.
The new findings "were against our expectations," said Dr. Donald Tashkin, a UCLA pulmonologist who has studied marijuana for 30 years.
"We hypothesized that there would be a positive association between marijuana use and lung cancer and that the association would be more positive with heavier use," he said. "What we found instead was no association at all, and even a suggestion of some protective effect."
Federal health and drug enforcement officials have widely used Tashkin's previous work on marijuana to make the case that the drug is dangerous. Tashkin said that while he still believes marijuana is potentially harmful, its cancer-causing effects appear to be of less concern than previously thought.
Earlier work established that marijuana does contain cancer-causing chemicals as potentially harmful as those in tobacco, he said. However, marijuana also contains the chemical THC, which he said may kill aging cells and keep them from becoming cancerous.
Tashkin's study, funded by the National Institutes of Health's National Institute on Drug Abuse, involved 1,200 people in Los Angeles who had lung, neck or head cancer and an additional 1,040 people without cancer matched by age, sex and neighborhood.
They were all asked about their lifetime use of marijuana, tobacco and alcohol. The heaviest marijuana smokers had lit up more than 22,000 times, while moderately heavy usage was defined as smoking 11,000 to 22,000 marijuana cigarettes. Tashkin found that even the very heavy marijuana smokers showed no increased incidence of the three cancers studied.
Tashkin's study actually set out to prove cannabis use, particularly heavy use (more than 22,000 joints!), raised the risk of cancer. Tashkin clearly sounds shocked by the survey results that have discredited his hypothesis.
It's important to note, however, that Americans traditionally do not mix 'spinner', or tobacco, with the cannabis they prepare for smoking.
The study cited in the story does not specify whether or not the majority of smokers smoked 'clean' cannabis.
sfgate.com
end quote
You poked fun at the idea of pot fighting cancer .. Your expert now says it's true. |
