Exploring, Cannabis and Lung Health - What the Studies Say
The most common question among cannabis lovers is, is smoking cannabis harmful to your lungs? Some individuals and logics reveal that it’s not healthy to smoke marijuana. The combustion effect of marijuana comes with implications on the lungs and respiratory tract. In addition, smoking cannabis exposes your body to carcinogens or harmful chemicals. It’s important to understand that prolonged use of cannabis is associated with lung cancer-causing organisms. Nevertheless, the main concern among most individuals is if the exposure warrants concern among the users.
Some marijuana proponents and experts say that you can consume dozens of cannabis pieces without having any effects or damage to your lungs. However, the opponents insist that smoking cannabis brings the same health effects as smoking tobacco and may have significant effects on your lungs and respiratory system. We also have some chain-smokers who have managed to smoke without having any respiratory issues.
Due to the prohibition of the drug in most countries, we’ve got very few studies on the drug and its effects. However, some researchers and institutions have managed to carry out studies on cannabis and its effects on your lungs and respiratory system. The studies aim at bringing out the clear effects of the drug on your lung and breathing system. Read through the article to understand more about what science reveals about the matter.
Why is Cannabis Potentially Harmful to the Lungs?
Experts link frequent marijuana use to side effects like lung diseases, memory loss, and many others. The researchers link these side effects to the hundreds of cannabinoids and compound the plants come with or the papers you use for rolling marijuana. Thus, when you combust cannabis, it releases many chemicals into your body’s respiratory system. These chemicals may include carcinogens like hydrogen cyanide, ammonia, and formaldehyde.
Nevertheless, some research suggests that smoking tobacco and weed predisposes you to lung cancer and other respiratory issues. The inhalation of the different carcinogens increases the risk of having lung cancer. Studies reveal that cannabis has fewer carcinogens than tobacco, but they still cause complications. Below are the findings from studies on the link between lung issues and marijuana smoking.
Studies Suggesting that Marijuana Smoking is Harmful to the Lungs
Most researchers and institutions have been researching this issue for a long time, approximately for over some decades. For instance, Polen et al., in the ‘Western Journal of Medicine, June 1993’, revealed bad news to cannabis lovers and cigarette smokers. The researchers found that frequent marijuana seeks healthcare services more than non-users. The common health issues were respiratory injuries and illnesses, unlike the non-users. The rate at which tobacco users sought healthcare for respiratory issues was higher than those using cannabis.
Another study in the ‘Annals of the American Thoracic Society,’ by Tashkin et al., in June 2013, investigated how cannabis smoking affects the lungs.
The researchers found that regular cannabis smoking resulted in microscopic and visible injuries on the large airways. These injuries increase the compound risks and chances of chronic bronchitis symptoms that disappear after you stop using. Nevertheless, the study ruled out any cause of lung abnormalities following chronic usage of cannabis. The results indicated that the long-term users of cannabis didn’t experience any lung or respiratory system abnormalities.
Before the Tashkin et al. findings, the ‘Experts Review of Respiratory Medicines’ published a report from Howden and Naughton in 2011 on the effects of cannabis. The study produced evidence that the frequent use of cannabis leads to impaired functioning of the lungs and massive damages on the large airway mucosa.
The study linked the damage and effects of cannabis to the lungs to the cannabis users and the different tobacco smoking habits. We’ve got numerous habits of smoking cannabis, including inhaling and retaining more marijuana smoke. When taking them in, the users tend to breathe a lot of smoke in deeper and hold them for longer before releasing them. The smoke in your respiratory tract may be very harmful, especially if you’ve got issues like asthma or other lung infections.
Ultimately, we don’t have widely available conclusive studies or research to conclude that smoking marijuana is bad for your lungs. Nevertheless, few studies reveal that we don't have a direct connection between lung cancer or other complications and cannabis usage. However, it’s also possible that individuals have flawed most of the few studies available.
Variables that can Account for the Scientific Data Errors
Researchers must maintain control over the different test subjects while conducting different clinical or scientific investigations. Taking into account the test subject during the study duration is very important to prevent or minimize scientific data errors occurring during the study. For instance, when testing for different effects of chronic marijuana use on respiratory or lung health. These researchers must check how they consider the potential variables to which the users or subjects will be exposed during the duration.
Considering the potential variable the users may be exposed to may mean those that may harm your lungs. For instance, check if they’ve used tobacco cigarettes and check air quality. Additionally, it’ll be wise to consider comparing the air where the subject or users live by checking the air quality.
Importantly, we’ve got additional factors to consider while carrying out the study. These factors may include the method of inhaling smoke and the quality of marijuana the users smoke.
For example, if the users have a joint, it’ll be vital to consider the paper they used to roll it. While rolling, experts advise using organic hemp papers as they are usually non-toxic and safe. Nevertheless, using tobacco papers from cigarettes or blunts can be harmful as they contain some carcinogenic or toxic ingredients from the pre-packaged cigarettes.
Additionally, they must also consider the individuals’ genetics when carrying out the studies. The individual's genetics should include heredity issues or family histories. For instance, certain diseases like COPD are commonly hereditary, where individuals inherit from the parent or get it due to family history. Thus, they should understand how different the cause of the diseased lung functions is from either being caused by marijuana smoke or the heredity factor. It’ll be important to get accurate data on how many individuals get the diseases through long-term cannabis usage.
Is the Recent Research Positive for Marijuana Users?
Most of the researchers that seem to reveal bad ones have caveats. For instance, a study from Tetrealt et al. on ‘The Archives of Internal Medicine ’ that the researchers published in February 2007 revealed some bad news for the users. The researchers focused on a particular review of studies, concentrating on the possible effects of marijuana smoking on respiratory complications and pulmonary functions.
The researchers found an association between increased respiratory issues and long-term smoking of marijuana. The common respiratory complications include phlegm production, coughing, and wheezing. Nevertheless, the team discovered a close association between bronchodilation and the short-term use of marijuana. Bronchodilation is essential to improve an individual’s breathing system.
In addition, we got the JAMA studies from Pletcher et al. in January 2012. The team focused on the association between pulmonary functions for a long time, approximately 20 years, and cannabis exposure or usage. They performed various standard pulmonary function tests on many young adults, approximately 5100, to form part of the two-decade-long research or study on the risk of coronary artery disease. The study’s main goal was to check the functioning of the lungs against the number of years the individuals had exposure to weed or those smoking cannabis.
For example, if you smoked a weed joint each week for 35 years, the study records you have five joint years of exposure or experience on cannabis. These figures are similar to someone who has smoked one joint’s worth one day for five years. The researchers reveal no evidence of effects on pulmonary functioning or respiratory disease for up to seven combined years.
Finally, they realized a slight decline in the individuals having ten and more joint years of cannabis experience, which isn’t statistically significant. Alternatively, smokers recorded a substantial drop in respiratory and lung functioning across the 20-year study duration. Even with a cigarette consumption of between 8 and 9 cigarettes daily, it didn’t impact the results.
Research on Lung Health and Cannabis Ongoing
We've got numerous ongoing studies on cannabis and lung health to look further into the issue. For instance, Morris et al. continued with the research, and in 2018, they published it in the ‘Journal of the COPD Foundation.’The team focused on the marijuana use associated with pulmonary issues and the function among tobacco smokers. While having the study, the team focused on the former and current tobacco users to establish any relationship with pulmonary complications. The team assessed the association between pulmonary outcomes and long-term and short-term cannabis use.
Among the 2300+ participants the team included in the study, 43% were former users, while 8% were current users. Neither existing nor previous users had an association with or increased odds of chronic bronchitis, coughing, or wheezing when comparing them to the non-users.
Overall, this study revealed that the use of marijuana had very few associations with the different pulmonary disorders or health among the current and former tobacco users. The results stated that the research couldn’t get the proper link to determine whether chronic cannabis use for a long time without smoking causes airflow obstruction, emphysema, or lung complications. Thus, there was no proper link or association between long-term cannabis & tobacco use and lung diseases.
Final Thoughts on the Lung Issues and Long Term Marijuana Use
Most individuals believe that smoking tobacco or marijuana when having existing lung issues. Therefore, most researchers have conducted various studies to check the association between long-term cannabis use and pulmonary or lung diseases. Nevertheless, most research reveals that long-term smoking of cannabis doesn’t damage a healthy individual’s lung or respiratory systems. Some of these studies also suggest that chronic marijuana usage could affect your lung health negatively and cause some pulmonary conditions.
Interestingly, some results have suggested that short-term marijuana usage might have health benefits. Short use of the drug may slightly affect bronchodilation, which improves an individual’s breathing system. However, it’s an unexpected development, which requires further medical researchers to investigate the proper dosing to prevent microdosing.
Presently, we’ve got scant evidence to conclude that either the short or long-term use of cannabis is responsible for most pulmonary diseases. Contrary, researchers have a lot of pulmonary disease cases to the long-term consumption or smoking of cigarettes.
Summarily, we’ve got more continuous research into this important matter. Therefore, until then, we can’t conclude if smoking marijuana or cannabis is bad for your respiratory or lung health. Alternatively, if you have any doubts or feel smoking cannabis may affect your lungs or lead to respiratory diseases. We have a growing trend of cannabis CBD oil and edibles you can choose to suit your cannabis consumption needs.
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