Free the Weed pt. 3: Drugs are Bad M'Kay

Myth: Marijuana is More Damaging to the Lungs Than Tobacco. Marijuana smokers are at a high risk of developing lung cancer, bronchitis, and emphysema.

Myth: Marijuana Use Impairs the Immune System. Marijuana users are at increased risk of infection, including HIV. AIDS patients are particularly vulnerable to marijuana's immunopathic effects because their immune systems are already suppressed.
Myth: Marijuana's Harms Have Been Proved Scientifically. In the 1960s and 1970s, many people believed that marijuana was harmless. Today we know that marijuana is much more dangerous than previously believed.
http://www.drugpolicy.org/marijuana/factsmyths/

Clearly this one is going to cover a lot of bases.


From the time we enter grade school we as children are told that drugs are bad for us. As we get older the scare tactics get more and more fierce. We've all seen the before and after photos of meth addicts and we've heard about the negative effects drugs have on our bodies. Yes, some drugs are bad for you. I would be stupid to tell you that they are all minimally dangerous. However, not all drugs are as harmful as we are told. unfortunately marijuana has been looped in with harder, far more dangerous, drugs as a harmful substance. Marijuana is in fact not a very harmful substance. Of course, smoking anything is going to be harmful to one's respiratory health. When compared to other substances that are smoked, marijuana is the least harmful. Like tobacco, marijuana smoke contains irritants and carcinogens. These pose the same danger in marijuana as they do in tobacco products however, because marijuana users smoke less than tobacco users to obtain the desired effect, the damage done is far less than that done by tobacco. Because less is needed to be smoked the risk of serious lung damage from smoking marijuana far less than that of tobacco. As for cancer, there have been no incidences of lung cancer solely related to smoking marijuana. In a large study presented to the American Thoracic Society in 2006, even heavy marijuana users showed no signs of an increased risk of lung cancer. Unlike heavy tobacco smokers, heavy marijuana smokers show no obstruction of the lungs airway which indicates that people will not develop emphysema from smoking marijuana.


Now on to the immune system.
There is no evidence that marijuana smokers are more susceptible to infection and disease. Even more silly is the claim that marijuana users are less immune to sexually transmitted disease. Earlier studies that have shown decreased immune functions in cells taken from marijuana users have since been disproved. When given high doses of THC animals show decreased immune function however, these findings do not apply to humans. Marijuana is safe even with people with existing immune issues.


As for the third point, I'm just gonna repost from the website.
"Fact: In 1972, after reviewing the scientific evidence, the National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse concluded that while marijuana was not entirely safe, its dangers had been grossly overstated. Since then, researchers have conducted thousands of studies of humans, animals, and cell cultures. None reveal any findings dramatically different from those described by the National Commission in 1972. In 1995, based on thirty years of scientific research editors of the British medical journal Lancet concluded that "the smoking of cannabis, even long term, is not harmful to health.'"
http://www.drugpolicy.org/marijuana/factsmyths/#immune

All in all marijuana is not harmful to one's health. Although it contains some of the same harmful chemicals as tobacco does, it does not affect respiratory health because it is smoke with less frequency because less is needed to obtain desired effects. It does not decrease immune function nor does it increase risk of sexually transmitted disease.
Myth debunked.