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. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom