|
 |
|||||
| home : pages : what's new in medicine vol. 5 : hidden hazards of cannabis : | |||||
|
|
 |
HIDDEN HAZARDS OF CANNABISMost people of spirit have aspects of their youth that in their later years they may regret - George Harrison, learnt the hard way , that there is an association between smoking cannabis and the cancer that he died from. As one of the Beatles, a symbol of the Sixties and a harbinger of social change, his life style included an acceptance of cannabis smoking. It is very unlikely that while he smoked cannabis he knew that each joint he enjoyed had four times as much tar as a normal cigarette, and that cannabis tar, like the tar from ordinary tobacco, has been shown to be cancer inducing. Nor did George Harrison, or Bill Clinton and a host of other prominent figures, who were young in the Sixties and smoked pot at the time, probably know that the marijuana they smoked in those days contained between 0.1 and 0.4% THC. THC is the psychoactive constituent of cannabis .The cannabis taken now tends to have much higher concentrations. Sweden leads the world in its knowledge of cannabis, and a 1996 report quoted by its authorities has shown that marijuana as smoked in the Sixtiesis now no longer available in Sweden and presumably the rest of Europe.The THC concentrations are now around the 6 and 8% mark and in some the concentrations are 13 or 14%.A joint can therefore vary in strength just as surely as a glass of lager or, for that matter, wine. Heavy consumers of cannabis also have a significantly higher frequency of the cell changes which can precede cancer than do non smokers. Long-term studies have shown that when a cannabis smoker develops cancer of the lungs, larynx, mouth or oesophagus the cancer is appearing ten to 13 years earlier than in patients whose cancer is thought to be solely related to tobacco smoking.In one study , 887 patients with cancer of the lungs or throat were studied. In the ten who were aged under 40, five were heavy users of cannabis, two smoked cannabis frequently but not daily and one was probably a regular, but not heavy, cannabis smoker. In these five, two had cancer of the lung, four cancer of the tongue--many, therefore like George Harrison had multiple tumors. Many similar surveys have shown an unexpectedly heavy incidence of these tumors and that in many cases it may account for the disease in younger people.The principal hazard of cannabis is as a drug which can induce a rangeof psychotic reactions, inducing a relapse in - or worsening of - the schizophreniform illnesses. It is certain, that when schizophrenic breakdown occurs in a vulnerable person it occurs three years earlier than would be expected if they had not been smoking cannabis.But cannabis may not only induce schizophrenia: it also gives rise to a variety of cannabis psychoses which have all the disadvantages of schizophrenia and are sometimes difficult to distinguish from it.Cannabis may have advantages as an analgesic when treating some forms of pain, and no one should deny these patients its use.However, to advocate any change in the law which would make its recreational use more common - and without understanding the medical disadvantages (far more that are listed here)-seems irresponsible. Ref: Adverse Health Consequences of Cannabis Use by Jan Ramstrom, published by the National Institute of Public Health , Sweden with foreword by the director general of the Swedish National Board Of Health and Welfare. Its account would discourage even the most vote - hungry politicians from condoning cannabis smoking as a means of displaying their liberalism and sympathy- and their greed for the youth vote. From The Times /London/July 2001- summary of Dr. Thomas Stuttaford's article on marijuana. Mary Wilson MD --> return to menu / back ... (click) --> return to top of the page (click) |
|||
 |
| (T) 212.439.1958 | 14 East 69th St, New York, NY 10021 | (F) 212.439.6718 |
| 2000-2008 © Mary Wilson M.D., P.C. All rights reserved. | ||
| Site Designed & Maintained by Delamain IT Web Design & SEO. |