Pubdate: Mon, 25 Aug 2014
Source: Guelph Mercury (CN ON)
Copyright: 2014 Metroland Media Group Ltd.
Contact:  http://www.guelphmercury.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1418

SMOKING IS BAD FOR YOU, PERIOD

The smouldering issue of marijuana is floating around Canada these
days, but shifting political and legal debates are clouding the
matter. For their part, led by leader Justin Trudeau, the federal
Liberals are pushing to legalize the substance for recreational use,
arguing marijuana prohibition is expensive, ineffective, promotes
organized crime and turns ordinary citizens into criminals. This, in
turn, has been received like a tossed-down gauntlet by Stephen
Harper's Conservatives, whose attack ads accuse Trudeau of
irresponsibly trying to make it easier for children to get their hands
on pot.

There's a great deal of heat in that partisan battle, far less light.
Fortunately, the national group representing the country's physicians
has offered a welcome and timely reminder that marijuana is not merely
a political or legal matter, it's also a major health issue.

At its annual meeting last week, the Canadian Medical Association's
general council said so, as it voted to formally oppose the smoking of
"any plant material," including marijuana. The scientific reasons for
this stand are clear and compelling.

The association's outgoing president, Dr. Louis Hugo Francescutti,
cited a 2008 American Chemical Society study that revealed marijuana
smoke contains many of the same chemicals as tobacco smoke, but in
significantly higher levels. He said smoking impairs the lungs'
"natural cleaning and repair system and traps cancer-causing
chemicals" in the body's airways.

Because people often inhale it more deeply or longer than they would
tobacco, smoking marijuana may be more harmful, according to Dr. Chris
Simpson, the association's incoming president. And Dr. Deborah
Hellyer, a respirologist, said smoking one marijuana cigarette is
equivalent to smoking 10 made out of tobacco.

The association's stand on medicinal marijuana is also noteworthy.
While "sympathetic to the number of Canadians who tell us that they
derive relief from marijuana," the association believes "the evidence
is insufficient to support its use as medicine."

Now, it should be understood that while the Canadian Medical
Association is warning people not to smoke pot, the group officially
supports decriminalization because it sees no purpose in turning users
into criminals. Moreover, the medical association rebuffed the federal
government's invitation to support a proposed Health Canada ad blitz
on the dangers of using marijuana. The association doesn't want to
wade into a heated political battle.

There are strong arguments, in fact, for revising Canadian laws
governing the use of marijuana. Even the Conservatives have said
they're open to the kind of reform advocated by the Canadian
Association of Chiefs of Police, which wants to make possession of
small amounts of marijuana an offence that would get you ticketed, not
arrested. But as Canadians enter into this debate, which will surely
intensify before next year's federal election, they should keep the
facts straight. Smoking marijuana is not a benign or innocuous
activity, from a health perspective. Used regularly, over a period of
time it causes physical harm.

Alcohol and tobacco, of course, are also harmful substances which are
legal, regulated, and the subjects for repeated public education
campaigns. There's an argument marijuana should be treated the same
way. But no one should forget that smoking it is bad for you. 
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D