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The use of recreational cannabis has steadily increased in the United States. It is estimated that more than 50 percent of U.S. adults have tried cannabis.
In Europe, France holds the distinction of being the country with the highest usage of cannabis. To this end, medical scientists in France have been looking at cannabis with an eye on the known neurological and psychological aspects. In addition, pulmonology researchers are looking at how cannabis affects the lungs.
Dr. Pauline Pradère is a pulmonologist (lung specialist) at Marie Lannelongue Hospital in Paris, France, and a leading researcher on this subject. She notes that there is a toxic effect of cannabis on the lungs. She states that there are significant carcinogens found in cannabis, as well as in the tobacco with which it may be mixed.
She also points out that tetrahydrocannabinol, the psychoactive component of cannabis, is also a bronchodilator. This means that it opens the bronchus, so there is actually a deeper inhalation of the carcinogens present in the cannabis than there is with tobacco, which lacks this bronchodilator.
Pradère’s findings show that many cannabis users have developed similar precancerous lesions as those seen in tobacco smokers.
Dr. Pradère notes that a study done in Canada showed that cannabis usage at age 20 significantly affected the later life development of lung cancer. Adolescents who smoked 50 joints during their teenage years were found to have double the risk of developing bronchial lung cancer.
In patients who were younger than age 50 with lung cancer, Pradère noted several things. One was that several of them had not been asked about their cannabis usage, only about their tobacco usage. She also noted that when categorizing these cancer patients as nonsmokers, tobacco smokers, and cannabis smokers, those in the cannabis group presented with more emphysema and a worse prognosis than the other two groups. The cannabis smokers also had more cancer in the upper parts of their lungs, where the inhaled toxins concentrated. They also experienced longer surgeries and longer hospitalizations.
In a study led by Dr. Pradère, along with the French National Cancer Institute, they studied 150 patients under 60 years of age diagnosed with primary lung cancer. Here she noted, “We observed a high prevalence of cannabis use in these young patients with highly lethal lung cancer. Thirty-eight percent were cannabis smokers with an average consumption of four joints per day over a median period of 26 years.”
Dr. Veita Bland is a board-certified Greensboro physician and hypertension specialist. Dr. Bland’s radio show, “It’s a Matter of Your Health,” can be heard live on Wednesdays, 5:30 p.m. on N.C. A&T State University’s WNAA, 90.1 FM. Listeners may call in and ask questions. The show is replayed on Sirius 142 at 5 p.m. on Wed. Email Dr. Bland at ideas@blandclinicpa.com.
