Here's the article. You've got outdated stuff here:

No Link Between Pot Smoking, Cancer
Wed Oct 19, 7:02 PM ET

WEDNESDAY, Oct. 19 (HealthDay News) -- Even though they're chemically
similar, marijuana smoke is less likely than tobacco smoke to cause cancer,
according to one expert review of the literature.


The review, by Dr. Robert Melamede of the University of Colorado, Colorado
Springs, noted that tobacco and marijuana smoke differ in a number of ways,
particularly in the fact that marijuana smoke contains tetrahydrocannabinol
(THC) , while tobacco smoke contains nicotine. Nicotine increases the
cancer-promoting effects of smoke, while THC reduces those effects, he
explained.


And even though THC and nicotine act on related cellular pathways, they bind
to different receptors to activate these pathways, the review found. Cells
in the lungs and respiratory passages are lined with nicotine receptors but
these cells don't appear to have THC receptors. This may explain why smoking
marijuana has so far not been linked with lung cancer, a major cause of
death from cigarette smoking.


Research has also shown that marijuana kills cancer cells and reduces tumor
growth. This is, in part, because marijuana reduces the formation of blood
vessels that nourish tumors.


However, the review warned that the effects of marijuana are complex and
sometimes contradictory. It also noted that many people use marijuana and
tobacco together, and the two drugs may interact in complex ways.


While some governments are reluctant to approve marijuana for medicinal use,
the review noted that there's increasing evidence that marijuana can improve
the lives of patients with a broad range of health problems, including
insomnia,

AIDS, multiple sclerosis and

Alzheimer's disease.


The review will be published in an upcoming issue of the journal Harm
Reduction.

More information


The American Academy of Family Physicians has more about marijuana.



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"stuart" <fred@nospam.com> wrote in message
news:3bUdf.122671$yS6.47579@clgrps12...
> Effects on the Brain
>
> Scientists have learned a great deal about how THC acts in the brain to
> produce its many effects. When someone smokes marijuana, THC rapidly
> passes
> from the lungs into the bloodstream, which carries the chemical to organs
> throughout the body, including the brain.
>
> In the brain, THC connects to specific sites called cannabinoid receptors
> on
> nerve cells and influences the activity of those cells. Some brain areas
> have many cannabinoid receptors; others have few or none. Many cannabinoid
> receptors are found in the parts of the brain that influence pleasure,
> memory, thought, concentration, sensory and time perception, and
> coordinated
> movement(5).
>
> The short-term effects of marijuana can include problems with memory and
> learning; distorted perception; difficulty in thinking and problem
> solving;
> loss of coordination; and increased heart rate. Research findings for
> long-term marijuana use indicate some changes in the brain similar to
> those
> seen after long-term use of other major drugs of abuse. For example,
> cannabinoid (THC or synthetic forms of THC) withdrawal in chronically
> exposed animals leads to an increase in the activation of the
> stress-response system(6) and changes in the activity of nerve cells
> containing dopamine(7). Dopamine neurons are involved in the regulation of
> motivation and reward, and are directly or indirectly affected by all
> drugs
> of abuse.
>
>
> Effects on the Heart
>
> One study has indicated that a user's risk of heart attack more than
> quadruples in the first hour after smoking marijuana(8). The researchers
> suggest that such an effect might occur from marijuana's effects on blood
> pressure and heart rate and reduced oxygen-carrying capacity of blood.
>
>
> Effects on the Lungs
>
> A study of 450 individuals found that people who smoke marijuana
> frequently
> but do not smoke tobacco have more health problems and miss more days of
> work than nonsmokers(9). Many of the extra sick days among the marijuana
> smokers in the study were for respiratory illnesses.
>
> Even infrequent use can cause burning and stinging of the mouth and
> throat,
> often accompanied by a heavy cough. Someone who smokes marijuana regularly
> may have many of the same respiratory problems that tobacco smokers do,
> such
> as daily cough and phlegm production, more frequent acute chest illness, a
> heightened risk of lung infections, and a greater tendency to obstructed
> airways(10). Smoking marijuana increases the likelihood of developing
> cancer
> of the head or neck, and the more marijuana smoked the greater the
> increase(11). A study comparing 173 cancer patients and 176 healthy
> individuals produced strong evidence that marijuana smoking doubled or
> tripled the risk of these cancers.
>
> Marijuana use also has the potential to promote cancer of the lungs and
> other parts of the respiratory tract because it contains irritants and
> carcinogens(12, 13). In fact, marijuana smoke contains 50 to 70 percent
> more
> carcinogenic hydrocarbons than does tobacco smoke(14). It also produces
> high
> levels of an enzyme that converts certain hydrocarbons into their
> carcinogenic form-levels that may accelerate the changes that ultimately
> produce malignant cells(15). Marijuana users usually inhale more deeply
> and
> hold their breath longer than tobacco smokers do, which increases the
> lungs'
> exposure to carcinogenic smoke. These facts suggest that, puff for puff,
> smoking marijuana may increase the risk of cancer more than smoking
> tobacco.
>
>
> Other Health Effects
>
> Some of marijuana's adverse health effects may occur because THC impairs
> the
> immune system's ability to fight off infectious diseases and cancer. In
> laboratory experiments that exposed animal and human cells to THC or other
> marijuana ingredients, the normal disease-preventing reactions of many of
> the key types of immune cells were inhibited(16). In other studies, mice
> exposed to THC or related substances were more likely than unexposed mice
> to
> develop bacterial infections and tumors(17, 18).
>
>
> Effects of Heavy Marijuana Use on Learning and Social Behavior
>
> Depression(19), anxiety(20), and personality disturbances(21) have been
> associated with marijuana use. Research clearly demonstrates that
> marijuana
> has potential to cause problems in daily life or make a person's existing
> problems worse. Because marijuana compromises the ability to learn and
> remember information, the more a person uses marijuana the more he or she
> is
> likely to fall behind in accumulating intellectual, job, or social skills.
> Moreover, research has shown that marijuana's adverse impact on memory and
> learning can last for days or weeks after the acute effects of the drug
> wear
> off(22, 23).
>
> Students who smoke marijuana get lower grades and are less likely to
> graduate from high school, compared with their non-smoking peers(24, 25,
> 26,
> 27). A study of 129 college students found that, for heavy users of
> marijuana (those who smoked the drug at least 27 of the preceding 30
> days),
> critical skills related to attention, memory, and learning were
> significantly impaired even after they had not used the drug for at least
> 24
> hours(28). The heavy marijuana users in the study had more trouble
> sustaining and shifting their attention and in registering, organizing,
> and
> using information than did the study participants who had used marijuana
> no
> more than 3 of the previous 30 days. As a result, someone who smokes
> marijuana every day may be functioning at a reduced intellectual level all
> of the time.
>
> More recently, the same researchers showed that the ability of a group of
> long-term heavy marijuana users to recall words from a list remained
> impaired for a week after quitting, but returned to normal within 4
> weeks(29). Thus, it is possible that some cognitive abilities may be
> restored in individuals who quit smoking marijuana, even after long-term
> heavy use.
>
> Workers who smoke marijuana are more likely than their coworkers to have
> problems on the job. Several studies associate workers' marijuana smoking
> with increased absences, tardiness, accidents, workers' compensation
> claims,
> and job turnover. A study of municipal workers found that those who used
> marijuana on or off the job reported more "withdrawal behaviors"-such as
> leaving work without permission, daydreaming, spending work time on
> personal
> matters, and shirking tasks-that adversely affect productivity and
> morale(30). In another study, marijuana users reported that use of the
> drug
> impaired several important measures of life achievement including
> cognitive
> abilities, career status, social life, and physical and mental health(31).
>
>
> Effects on Pregnancy
>
> Research has shown that babies born to women who used marijuana during
> their
> pregnancies display altered responses to visual stimuli, increased
> tremulousness, and a high-pitched cry, which may indicate neurological
> problems in development(32). During infancy and preschool years,
> marijuana-exposed children have been observed to have more behavioral
> problems than unexposed children and poorer performance on tasks of visual
> perception, language comprehension, sustained attention, and memory(33,
> 34).
> In school, these children are more likely to exhibit deficits in
> decision-making skills, memory, and the ability to remain attentive(35,
> 36,
> 37).
>
>
> Addictive Potential
>
> Long-term marijuana use can lead to addiction for some people; that is,
> they
> use the drug compulsively even though it interferes with family, school,
> work, and recreational activities. Drug craving and withdrawal symptoms
> can
> make it hard for long-term marijuana smokers to stop using the drug.
> People
> trying to quit report irritability, sleeplessness, and anxiety(38). They
> also display increased aggression on psychological tests, peaking
> approximately one week after the last use of the drug(39).
>
>
> Genetic Vulnerability
>
> Scientists have found that whether an individual has positive or negative
> sensations after smoking marijuana can be influenced by heredity. A 1997
> study demonstrated that identical male twins were more likely than
> non-identical male twins to report similar responses to marijuana use,
> indicating a genetic basis for their response to the drug(40). (Identical
> twins share all of their genes.)
>
> It also was discovered that the twins' shared or family environment before
> age 18 had no detectable influence on their response to marijuana. Certain
> environmental factors, however, such as the availability of marijuana,
> expectations about how the drug would affect them, the influence of
> friends
> and social contacts, and other factors that differentiate experiences of
> identical twins were found to have an important effect.
>
>
>
>










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"rosie read n' post" <readandpost@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:Cr9ef.11233$tK.7572@tornado.rdc-kc.rr.com...
>
>
> "stuart" <fred@nospam.com> wrote in message
> news:y62ef.196634$ir4.55739@edtnps90...
>>
>> Actually, the difference in harm between pot and crack is mainly in its
>> street price. It's easier to get rid of a crack habit than to stop
>> smoking
>> pot. The pot high also lasts for hours at a time as it is an oil soluable
>> drug. Much more subtly damaging. Anyone who labels pot as a "relatively
>> innocuous" drug is kidding themselves and probably not smoked any
>> recently.
>> The newer strains are 20X more potent than when you were a teenager in
>> the
>> 50's...............
>
>
> source please?
>
>
>

Yeah, for once I agree with you Rosie - Source Please?????




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"Default" <SetAsDefault@properties.comnospam> wrote in message
news:1132444074_11889@spool6-east.superfeed.net...
> > I suffer from chronic pain. I'd rather smoke marijuana for my
> > pain than
> take the strong narcotics the doctors prescribe.


Jeez, obviously, I didn't have a clue.

In the wild and woolly world of alt.recovery.addiction.alcoholism an
apparent need to rationalise a bit of pain for smoking pot indicates
you're just a pansy. http://tinyurl.com/4lwzk However, with your
being his opposition as distinct from his prospect, it's no wonder
Dan's antenna twigged onto you so quickly!


Brer Bob

So you advocate narcotics over a toke for pain??


"Robert McGregor" <robert_mcgregor@knickers.yahoo.com.au> wrote in message
news:437ff63e_1@news.iprimus.com.au...
>
> "Default" <SetAsDefault@properties.comnospam> wrote in message
> news:1132444074_11889@spool6-east.superfeed.net...
>> > I suffer from chronic pain. I'd rather smoke marijuana for my
>> > pain than
>> take the strong narcotics the doctors prescribe.
>
>
> Jeez, obviously, I didn't have a clue.
>
> In the wild and woolly world of alt.recovery.addiction.alcoholism an
> apparent need to rationalise a bit of pain for smoking pot indicates
> you're just a pansy. http://tinyurl.com/4lwzk However, with your
> being his opposition as distinct from his prospect, it's no wonder
> Dan's antenna twigged onto you so quickly!
>
>
> Brer Bob
>
>



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