Joined: 21 Jun 2007 Posts: 13932 Location: everythings better in, texas USA
pot and cancer Posted: 01-02-08 14:39pm
i didnt know this about pot. leran
something new everyday LOL i just found it
on the internet. CNN is a extremely
reliable source. what do you think?
Study finds smoking marijuana and cocaine
can cause cancer
WASHINGTON (CNN)-- In the first study of
its kind, researchers found that smokers
of marijuana and crack cocaine show the
same kinds of precancerous conditions
caused by smoking tobacco.
The findings were released Tuesday in the
Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
In the study, researchers examined samples
of respiratory tract tissue from
participants who ranged in age from 21 to
50. To be eligible, the participants had
to be in one or more of the following
categories: Marijuana smokers who smoked
an average of 10 or more marijuana
cigarettes a week for the last five years
or longer; crack cocaine smokers who
smoked one gram or more of crack cocaine a
week for nine months or longer within the
past year; or tobacco smokers who smoked
20 cigarettes or more a day for the last
five years.
The researchers looked at genetic markers
known to be associated with increased risk
of lung cancer. Changes or overproduction
of some markers were found in a majority
of the study participants.
The findings suggested that tobacco was
not the only smoked substance that set the
changes preceding lung cancer development
in motion.
The study also showed that habitual
smoking of tobacco, marijuana or crack
cocaine in combination could potentially
lead to more cancerous alterations in the
molecular makeup of cellular structure
than single-smoking alone.
Dr. Sanford Barsky, co-author of the study
and a member of the University of
California, Los Angeles' Jonnson
Comprehensive Cancer Center, said he was
not surprised by the findings. He said any
substance that is inhaled, regardless of
chemical makeup, releases carcinogens into
the lungs and throat.
In an editorial accompanying the study, Dr
Li Mao and Dr. Yun Oh at the University of
Texas's M.D. Anderson Cancer Center
conclude that the nationwide teen
anti-tobacco effort might have an
"unintended consequence" -- teens will
substitute tobacco with marijuana.
They write while these anti-tobacco
campaigns are expected to reduce the
numbers of teenagers and children who
smoke tobacco cigarettes, the rate of
marijuana use is increasing.
They note the percentage of students
smoking marijuana on a daily basis has
risen from 1.9 percent in 1992 to 4.6
percent in 1995
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acruz
Active User, Really EHEALTHy
Joined: 09 Aug 2007 Posts: 780 Location: Central, IL USA
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Posted: 01-02-08 14:45pm
pot is bad....this is true....
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Bridget
Moderator
Joined: 27 Jan 2006 Posts: 10769 Location: ,
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Posted: 01-02-08 14:47pm
that article is almost 10 years old.
here's a more recent article-
Study
Finds No Cancer-Marijuana
Connection
By Marc Kaufman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, May 26, 2006; A03
The largest study of its kind has
unexpectedly concluded that smoking
marijuana, even regularly and heavily,
does not lead to lung cancer.
The new findings "were against our
expectations," said Donald Tashkin of the
University of California at Los Angeles, a
pulmonologist who has studied marijuana
for 30 years.
"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,"
he said. "What we found instead was no
association at all, and even a suggestion
of some protective effect."
Federal health and drug enforcement
officials have widely used Tashkin's
previous work on marijuana to make the
case that the drug is dangerous. Tashkin
said that while he still believes
marijuana is potentially harmful, its
cancer-causing effects appear to be of
less concern than previously thought.
Earlier work established that marijuana
does contain cancer-causing chemicals as
potentially harmful as those in tobacco,
he said. However, marijuana also contains
the chemical THC, which he said may kill
aging cells and keep them from becoming
cancerous.
Tashkin's study, funded by the National
Institutes of Health's National Institute
on Drug Abuse, involved 1,200 people in
Los Angeles who had lung, neck or head
cancer and an additional 1,040 people
without cancer matched by age, sex and
neighborhood.
They were all asked about their lifetime
use of marijuana, tobacco and alcohol. The
heaviest marijuana smokers had lighted up
more than 22,000 times, while moderately
heavy usage was defined as smoking 11,000
to 22,000 marijuana cigarettes. Tashkin
found that even the very heavy marijuana
smokers showed no increased incidence of
the three cancers studied.
"This is the largest case-control study
ever done, and everyone had to fill out a
very extensive questionnaire about
marijuana use," he said. "Bias can creep
into any research, but we controlled for
as many confounding factors as we could,
and so I believe these results have real
meaning."
Tashkin's group at the David Geffen School
of Medicine at UCLA had hypothesized that
marijuana would raise the risk of cancer
on the basis of earlier small human
studies, lab studies of animals, and the
fact that marijuana users inhale more
deeply and generally hold smoke in their
lungs longer than tobacco smokers --
exposing them to the dangerous chemicals
for a longer time. In addition, Tashkin
said, previous studies found that
marijuana tar has 50 percent higher
concentrations of chemicals linked to
cancer than tobacco cigarette tar.
While no association between marijuana
smoking and cancer was found, the study
findings, presented to the American
Thoracic Society International Conference
this week, did find a 20-fold increase in
lung cancer among people who smoked two or
more packs of cigarettes a day.
The study was limited to people younger
than 60 because those older than that were
generally not exposed to marijuana in
their youth, when it is most often tried.
either way drugs are bad and only losers
smoke weed.
^_^
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Bridget
Moderator
Joined: 27 Jan 2006 Posts: 10769 Location: ,
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Posted: 01-02-08 14:53pm
i'm pro-pot and pro-legalization (for
medicinal and recreational purposes).
check this one out-
Marijuana
Cuts Lung Cancer Tumor Growth In Half,
Study Shows
ScienceDaily (Apr. 17, 2007) — The
active ingredient in marijuana cuts tumor
growth in common lung cancer in half and
significantly reduces the ability of the
cancer to spread, say researchers at
Harvard University who tested the chemical
in both lab and mouse studies.
They say this is the first set of
experiments to show that the compound,
Delta-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), inhibits
EGF-induced growth and migration in
epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)
expressing non-small cell lung cancer cell
lines. Lung cancers that over-express EGFR
are usually highly aggressive and
resistant to chemotherapy.
THC that targets cannabinoid receptors CB1
and CB2 is similar in function to
endocannabinoids, which are cannabinoids
that are naturally produced in the body
and activate these receptors. The
researchers suggest that THC or other
designer agents that activate these
receptors might be used in a targeted
fashion to treat lung cancer.
"The beauty of this study is that we are
showing that a substance of abuse, if used
prudently, may offer a new road to therapy
against lung cancer," said Anju Preet,
Ph.D., a researcher in the Division of
Experimental Medicine.
Acting through cannabinoid receptors CB1
and CB2, endocannabinoids (as well as THC)
are thought to play a role in variety of
biological functions, including pain and
anxiety control, and inflammation.
Although a medical derivative of THC,
known as Marinol, has been approved for
use as an appetite stimulant for cancer
patients, and a small number of U.S.
states allow use of medical marijuana to
treat the same side effect, few studies
have shown that THC might have anti-tumor
activity, Preet says. The only clinical
trial testing THC as a treatment against
cancer growth was a recently completed
British pilot study in human
glioblastoma.
In the present study, the researchers
first demonstrated that two different lung
cancer cell lines as well as patient lung
tumor samples express CB1 and CB2, and
that non-toxic doses of THC inhibited
growth and spread in the cell lines. "When
the cells are pretreated with THC, they
have less EGFR stimulated invasion as
measured by various in-vitro assays,"
Preet said.
Then, for three weeks, researchers
injected standard doses of THC into mice
that had been implanted with human lung
cancer cells, and found that tumors were
reduced in size and weight by about 50
percent in treated animals compared to a
control group. There was also about a 60
percent reduction in cancer lesions on the
lungs in these mice as well as a
significant reduction in protein markers
associated with cancer progression, Preet
says.
Although the researchers do not know why
THC inhibits tumor growth, they say the
substance could be activating molecules
that arrest the cell cycle. They speculate
that THC may also interfere with
angiogenesis and vascularization, which
promotes cancer growth.
Preet says much work is needed to clarify
the pathway by which THC functions, and
cautions that some animal studies have
shown that THC can stimulate some cancers.
"THC offers some promise, but we have a
long way to go before we know what its
potential is," she said.
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acruz
Active User, Really EHEALTHy
Joined: 09 Aug 2007 Posts: 780 Location: Central, IL USA
Thanks: 1
Thanked:1
Posted: 01-02-08 14:57pm
I agree with Sandy Pot is for
losers....however, I don't know much about
the medical aspect so maybe it is a good
thing...with a prescription, mind you!!!!
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Sandbox Party
Especially EHEALTHy
Joined: 25 Jul 2006 Posts: 7276
Posted: 01-02-08 14:58pm
yeah..
pure propaganda.. i dont believe in
studies like that.
I'm strongly against it no matter what.
I've seen what it does to people and I'll
never support it no matter what studies
are done.
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Bridget
Moderator
Joined: 27 Jan 2006 Posts: 10769 Location: ,
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Posted: 01-02-08 14:59pm
propaganda? that article was from science
daily. you don't believe in scientific
studies?
edit: more importantly, why would harvard
be putting out propaganda studies?
Last edited by Bridget on 01-02-08 15:18pm; edited 1 time in total
Joined: 20 Jun 2007 Posts: 1851 Location: Lead, sd usa
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Posted: 01-02-08 15:04pm
I see nothing wrong with pot. I don't
smoke it mind you, but i used to, and have
a few friends that do. i would much rather
smoke a joint, and get a little buzz than
get drunk. And i say this cause how many
deaths are caused by pot, and how many are
caused by drinking? I don't find pot to be
a gate way drug either. Or leading you to
do meth, heroin, coke ect. I smoked pot
for almost 6 years...( before Chyanne, and
sophia) Mostly my high school years. And i
NEVER touched anything other than that. I
did drink a bit. But i guess that's just
my 2 cents.
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Users who thank Hollyberries for this post:
homerx
Bridget
Moderator
Joined: 27 Jan 2006 Posts: 10769 Location: ,
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Posted: 01-02-08 15:07pm
i totally agree with you, holly. alcohol
is the true gateway drug.
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Dannzibelle
Supporter
Joined: 23 Oct 2006 Posts: 3742 Location: South East, England
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Posted: 01-02-08 15:08pm
Hollyberries
wrote:
I see nothing wrong with
pot. I don't smoke it mind you, but i used
to, and have a few friends that do. i
would much rather smoke a joint, and get a
little buzz than get drunk. And i say this
cause how many deaths are caused by pot,
and how many are caused by drinking? I
don't find pot to be a gate way drug
either. Or leading you to do meth, heroin,
coke ect. I smoked pot for almost 6
years...( before Chyanne, and sophia)
Mostly my high school years. And i NEVER
touched anything other than that. I did
drink a bit. But i guess that's just my 2
cents.
I have to agree with you. It's not
something i'd advise to do on a regular
basis though.
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Bridget
Moderator
Joined: 27 Jan 2006 Posts: 10769 Location: ,
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Posted: 01-02-08 15:11pm
Hollyberries
wrote:
And i say this cause how
many deaths are caused by pot, and how
many are caused by
drinking?
it sort of only stands to reason if
cigarettes cause lung cancer why wouldn't
pot?
I think people that think weed is ok, you
have been smoking it way to long..
I use to smoke it years ago. not everyday.
just for the fun of it now and then. But
then I grew up!
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NotEnoughForAnyone
Experienced User , Rather EHEALTHy
Joined: 10 Dec 2007 Posts: 181 Location: Sunny ol' Florida
Posted: 01-02-08 15:15pm
I must be a loser then. . .If I could
smoke pot legally, I would. Just because
you have seen what it does to *some*
people, doesn't mean everyone is like
that. Smoking weed also doesn't mean
someone is immature. I wake up early in
the morning 5 days a week to come in to a
managers job which I got for being
responsible
Last edited by NotEnoughForAnyone on 01-02-08 15:25pm; edited 1 time in total
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Bridget
Moderator
Joined: 27 Jan 2006 Posts: 10769 Location: ,
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Posted: 01-02-08 15:19pm
meblonde01
wrote:
it sort of only stands to
reason if cigarettes cause lung cancer why
wouldn't pot?
did you read the articles i posted?
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meblonde01
Supporter
Joined: 11 Apr 2007 Posts: 2113 Location: ,
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Posted: 01-02-08 15:24pm
no actully I post just before it went up.
. I see what it is saying..
But wouldn't it stand to reason that
inhaling a matter into your lungs would at
one point become harmful?
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Idony
Supporter
Joined: 23 Sep 2006 Posts: 1609 Location: virginia beach, va usa
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Posted: 01-02-08 15:24pm
meblonde01
wrote:
it sort of only stands to
reason if cigarettes cause lung cancer why
wouldn't pot?
I think people that think weed is ok, you
have been smoking it way to long..
I use to smoke it years ago. not everyday.
just for the fun of it now and then. But
then I grew up!
cigarettes have so much added to them, if
it was straight tobacco it wouldnt be so
bad
ive never smoked either pot or cigarettes,
while i dont encourage it i dont find it a
terrible thing
~alicia~
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meblonde01
Supporter
Joined: 11 Apr 2007 Posts: 2113 Location: ,
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Posted: 01-02-08 15:26pm
NotEnoughForAnyone
wrote:
I must be a loser then. .
.If I could smoke pot legally, I
would.
you are not a loser!!! fun things are hard
to control.. I like wine.. I don't drink
it everyday but I woudn't mind.. It
doesn't make you a loser..
If you are like me you like the mellow
feeling you get from it..
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Becky
Especially EHEALTHy
Joined: 01 Jan 2006 Posts: 6220 Location: London, England
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Posted: 01-02-08 15:30pm
why not post this to the marijuana debate
forum too?
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Bridget
Moderator
Joined: 27 Jan 2006 Posts: 10769 Location: ,
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Posted: 01-02-08 15:31pm
you're not a loser, mel! smoking pot is
the same as drinking (actually better in
my opinion). the only reason it's taboo is
because it's illegal.
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