From: NORML California <[canor m l] at [igc.apc.org]>
Newsgroups: alt.drugs
Date: 20 Jul 93 21:21 PDT
Subject: New Study of MJ Health Risks

     A medical survey of daily marijuana smokers published in 
The Western Journal of Medicine  confirms the opinion given 
in California NORML's "Health Tips for Marijuana Smokers," 
that the major risks of excessive marijuana smoking come 
from respiratory harm and accidents.
     The study, written by Michael R. Polen of the Kaiser 
Permanente Center for Health Research in Portland, Oregon, 
is the first known study comparing health records of daily 
marijuana smokers who do not smoke tobacco with those who 
use neither ("Health Care Use by Frequent Marijuana Smokers 
Who Do Not Smoke Tobacco," West J Med 1993: 158).
     The study found that frequent marijuana smokers had a 19% 
greater risk of respiratory disesases than non-smokers, 
confirming prior work by UCLA Professor Dr. Donald Tashkin 
and  others showing that marijuana smoke irritates the lungs 
in a manner not unlike cigarettes.  The study also found a 9% 
greater risk of other, non-respiratory illnesses, suggesting 
that marijuana could be linked to other  health complaints;  
however, this was observed only in one subpopulation of 
smokers, those who had used marijuana for 5-9 years.  
     The study, which covered 452 marijuana smokers and 450 
non-users, was not extensive enough to discern whether daily 
marijuana smoking might cause cancer.  Because marijuana 
users typically consume less smoke than tobacco smokers, 
and marijuana smoke tends to be concentrated more in the 
upper respiratory tract than tobacco, the relative 
carcinogenic risk of marijuana smoking remains unclear.
     Because of the noxious potential of marijuana smoke, 
California NORML strongly recommends that marijuana users 
reduce their exposure to smoke as much as possible.  This can 
be done by ingesting cannabis orally, by smoking smaller 
quantities of higher-potency sinsemilla, and by filtering 
harmful ingredients from the smoke - a technology whose 
development has been greatly impeded by government anti-
paraphernalia laws, which make it a crime to develop 
marijuana smoking devices of any kind.  
     "It is time for the government to wake up and recognize 
that they are hurting public health by preventing research in 
smokeless technology," said California NORML spokesman 
Dale Gieringer, "Unfortunately, the fact is that the only 
marijuana which the government permits to be used is that 
from its own pot farm at the University of Missippi, which is 
notoriously harsh and low in potency."  "Mississippi 
ditchweed," as it is known, is currently distributed to 
researchers and a handful of medical patients.

     Risk of Injuries
     The Kaiser study also found that the daily marijuana 
smokers had a 30% higher risk of injuries than non-users, 
confirming the commonsense notion that marijuana 
intoxication can lead to accidents. 
     "Pot smokers should be aware that accidents are probably 
the number one hazard of marijuana," warns Gieringer, author 
of an article on Marijuana and Driving Safety in the Journal of 
Psychoactive Drugs  (Jan-Mar 1988).  "Anyone who smokes 
marijuana daily is spending a significant portion of his or her 
waking life under the influence.  Some people seem to be able 
to compensate, but others do not."  He cautioned that a larger 
study would be needed to determine the true accident risks of 
marijuana. 
      The authors of the Kaiser study cautioned that their 
analysis was complicated by the difficulty of separating 
effects of marijuana and alcohol.  Subjects who smoked 
marijuana were much more inclined to be heavy drinkers than 
non-users (the study totally excluded tobacco smokers, 
thereby excluding most heavy drinkers). No attempt was made 
to control for use of other drugs such as cocaine.
     Curiously, injury risks were especially high for long-term 
daily marijuana users (15 years or more).  Equally curiously, 
the latter also had fewer  respiratory problems and other 
illnesses than non-marijuana-users.  Kaiser researchers hope 
eventually to clarify  matters in a larger study now 
underway.
      "Assuming the Kaiser results are on target, they do not 
contradict the view of most scientists that marijuana, while 
not harmless, is a relatively safe intoxicant," concludes 
Gieringer.  "Aside from the respiratory risks, which could be 
greatly mitigated,  even a 30% increased risk of injuries for 
habitual users would translate to at most a few thousand 
deaths per year - far less than the hundreds of thousands 
seen with alcohol and tobacco.  There is nothing here to 
contradict the conclusion of the California Research Advisory 
Panel, that marijuana is 'responsible for less damage to 
society and the individual than are alcohol and cigarettes.'"