Pubdate: Sat, 25 Apr 2015
Source: Honolulu Star-Advertiser (HI)
Copyright: 2015 Star Advertiser
Contact: 
http://www.staradvertiser.com/info/Star-Advertiser_Letter_to_the_Editor.html
Website: http://www.staradvertiser.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/5154
Note: New York Times

The Science Why

CANCER RISKS FROM POT REMAIN UNCLEAR

QUESTION: Leaving aside questions of addiction and brain effects, 
what is known about the effects of marijuana on things like the lungs 
and digestive tract?

ANSWER: The limited formal studies that have been done on marijuana 
and cancer have yielded complex and often conflicting results, 
according to a summary of research updated last year and published by 
the National Cancer Institute for health professionals.

For example, a large study reviewing the medical records of 64,855 
men in the United States found that use of cannabis was not 
associated with tobacco-related cancers and a number of others, but 
was linked to an increased risk of prostate cancer. But a smaller 
study in North Africa, involving 430 cases and 773 controls, did find 
an increased risk of lung cancer in those who also smoked tobacco.

A recent survey of large cross sections of adults in the United 
States found that daily smoking of marijuana for up to 20 years did 
not harm lung function as measured by airflow on exhalation. As for 
the digestive tract, marijuana and its derivatives have been used to 
improve appetite and fight nausea in cancer patients, but inhaled 
marijuana has been subject to only three small formal anti-nausea 
studies, and the results were inconclusive, the NCI said.
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