{"id":876,"date":"2012-02-07T15:26:05","date_gmt":"2012-02-07T22:26:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theloungeisback.wordpress.com\/?p=876"},"modified":"2014-01-11T07:26:17","modified_gmt":"2014-01-11T07:26:17","slug":"pot-smoking-doesnt-cause-lung-disease-the-lung-cancer-gene-part-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?p=876","title":{"rendered":"Pot smoking doesn’t cause lung disease: The lung cancer gene, part 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"marijuana\"<\/a><\/p>\n

A study that came out last month<\/a> determined that occasional post smoking doesn’t cause near the damage to lungs as cigarette smoking.<\/p>\n

The study followed 5,115 regular pot smokers over the course of 20 years.<\/p>\n

This reminds me very much of a study done about 5 years ago showing that even chronic pot use doesn’t appear to lead to an increased risk of lung cancer.<\/p>\n

“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,\u201d the study\u2019s lead researcher, Dr.Donald Tashkin<\/a>\u00a0of the University of California at Los Angeles\u00a0stated<\/a>.\u00a0\u201cWhat we found instead was no association at all, and even a suggestion of some protective effect\u201d\u00a0among marijuana smokers who had lower incidences of cancer compared to non-users.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

So what’s going on here? Why is tobacco smoke so unhealthy and pot smoke apparently does minimal damage (though the article does point out that some studies have shown an increase in bronchitis and chronic coughs in pot smokers).<\/p>\n

In any case, every major study on the issue has consistently shown that pot is considerably less dangerous to the lungs and heart than tobacco (not getting into whatever cognative damage chronic pot use might cause. When it comes to lung and heart, tobacco is far, far, far worse). Not to mention the difference of physical addiction between nicotine and THC. I quit smoking dope 20 years ago and it was the easiest thing I’ve ever done. No night sweats, no cravings, nothing. Why one continues to be illegal and the other legal continues to mystify me. And there doesn’t appear to be a lot of political will out there for legalizing dope.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Pot smoke actually has some of the same toxins as cigarette smoke, but in different doses. One theory is that additives in cigarette smoke are making cigarettes so deadly, but I’m dubious of that one. People were dying of smoking in the 1930s long before the tobacco companies were pumping additives into their tobacco. Another theory is that tobacco smoke is ingested more deeply, but I’m dubious of that one, too, because pot smoke is ingested pretty deeply into the lungs.<\/p>\n

I have a theory that lung cancer (forgetting for a bit the heart damage and COPD that smoking causes) is both a genetic and environmental disease, which could be one big reason tobacco smoking causes so much lung cancer while pot smoking doesn’t. There’s been a lot of really interesting and exciting information that has come out about the genetic component of lung cancer the last few years. I’ll write about that in part two tomorrow.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A study that came out last month determined that occasional post smoking doesn’t cause near the damage to lungs as cigarette smoking. The study followed 5,115 regular pot smokers over the course of 20 years. This reminds me very much of a study done about 5 years ago showing that even chronic pot use doesn’t … Continue reading Pot smoking doesn’t cause lung disease: The lung cancer gene, part 1<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":878,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[35,36,38],"tags":[148,601],"class_list":["post-876","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lung-cancer","category-lung-disease","category-marijuana","tag-lung-disease-2","tag-marijuana"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/marijuana-poster.jpg?fit=278%2C403&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4hpEa-e8","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2868,"url":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?p=2868","url_meta":{"origin":876,"position":0},"title":"Study: Smoking marijuana has no adverse effect on lung function","author":"Pepe Lepew","date":"January 25, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"This story is a bit frustrating and contradictory. It states, and was widely reprinted in a number of pro-marijuana Websites, that a study from the\u00a0Annals of the American Thoracic Society says that long-term marijuana smoking has no adverse effect on lung health. (However, this is where these stories drive me\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "marijuana"","block_context":{"text":"marijuana","link":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?cat=38"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/smoking-marijuana-e1422149022799.jpg?fit=500%2C311&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2113,"url":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?p=2113","url_meta":{"origin":876,"position":1},"title":"Bill O’Reilly claims he could’ve been a Marlboro Man","author":"Pepe Lepew","date":"April 19, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Bill O'Reilly -- yeah, the right-wing gasbag on Fox News -- claims he was once offered a job modeling as a Marlboro Man back in the 1970s. (Good thing for Bill that he turned it down, because Marlboro Men tend to die.) Bill used this bombshell to rag on marijuana.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Bill O'Reilly"","block_context":{"text":"Bill O'Reilly","link":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?cat=273"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/marlboro-man-bill-oreilly.jpg?fit=593%2C783&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/marlboro-man-bill-oreilly.jpg?fit=593%2C783&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/marlboro-man-bill-oreilly.jpg?fit=593%2C783&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":81,"url":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?p=81","url_meta":{"origin":876,"position":2},"title":"Surgeon General new report on smoking … cigarettes are bad, M’kay","author":"Pepe Lepew","date":"December 9, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"OK, what has gotten a lot of press from a truly extensive Surgeon General's report on cigarettes released yesterday is a conclusion that \"there is no safe level of cigarette smoke.\" The media has turned this into \"just one cigarette can kill you.\" Unfortunately, the report does contain a passage\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Lung cancer"","block_context":{"text":"Lung cancer","link":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?cat=35"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/smoking-effects.jpg?fit=795%2C521&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/smoking-effects.jpg?fit=795%2C521&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/smoking-effects.jpg?fit=795%2C521&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/smoking-effects.jpg?fit=795%2C521&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3576,"url":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?p=3576","url_meta":{"origin":876,"position":3},"title":"Ex-Prime Minister Stephen Harper: “Marijuana is infinitely more dangerous than tobacco”","author":"Pepe Lepew","date":"October 21, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Former Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said a couple of weeks ago during the Canadian election campaign that he opposes legalizing marijuana, adding, \"marijuana is infinitely more dangerous than tobacco.\" Well, that one statement all by itself is a good example of how Harper was -- and I'm sure continues\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Canada"","block_context":{"text":"Canada","link":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?cat=520"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/canada-buds-1.jpg?fit=1000%2C662&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/canada-buds-1.jpg?fit=1000%2C662&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/canada-buds-1.jpg?fit=1000%2C662&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/canada-buds-1.jpg?fit=1000%2C662&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":881,"url":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?p=881","url_meta":{"origin":876,"position":4},"title":"The lung cancer and nicotine genes","author":"Pepe Lepew","date":"February 8, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday I mentioned the \"lung cancer gene.\" This is interesting stuff to me, and exciting for a potential cure to lung cancer, the No. 1 cancer killer. 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Cancer death rate drops 20 percent in 20 years; Lung cancer death rate down 34 percent","author":"Pepe Lepew","date":"January 7, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"I wrote about this several months ago. The cancer death rate in the U.S. has dropped dramatically in the past few years, especially for lung cancer. 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