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weed and lung cancer

Discussion in 'Apprentice Marijuana Consumption' started by Sentenal51, Mar 6, 2011.

  1. #1 Sentenal51, Mar 6, 2011
    Heres a project i did for health class on weed and its relation to cancer, read it and you might be surprised what youll find out. All feedback, both negative and positive is appreciated.

    I ended up choosing four articles that were written about the same topic, that topic was marijuana and its relation to cancer. Previously, I thought that marijuana did not cause cancer; however, in health class we were shown a video saying that it did cause cancer. Of course, hearing something like this made me interested, which is why I chose this topic as my article. After researching, I found that every article that I looked at trying to say marijuana did cause cancer had either one of two things wrong with it:
    • It was using words such as “may” or “should” cause cancer. I was not able to find a single article from a legitimate source with the words “will” or “does” cause cancer.
    • No article was able to definitively prove that marijuana use causes cancer. The only point for arguing that marijuana could potentially cause cancer was that marijuana has a high amount of carcinogens compared to tobacco smoke.


    So, lets talk about carcinogens. Just what is a carcinogen? A carcinogen is any substance or radiation that is directly related to causing cancer. Most of these carcinogens are contained in tar from either tobacco or marijuana smoke. Now you might be thinking, “After hearing that it sure sounds to me like marijuana causes cancer.” But that's not the case. C. Everette Koop, the former U.S. Surgeon General said that radioactivity, not tar, accounts for at least 90% of all smoking related lung cancer. Tobacco smoke is radioactive, marijuana smoke is not. This means that only 10% of cancer cases are attributed to carcinogens.


    Now shouldn't this mean that the carcinogens in marijuana would cause cancer as well? The answer is that by themselves, yes, the carcinogens in marijuana would raise your risk of cancer. However, the main psychoactive in marijuana, Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (commonly known as THC), prevents this from happening. You see, one of the properties of THC is that it encourages aging cells to die rather than turning cancerous. This is why the studies show that marijuana use either has no effect at all on your risk of cancer, or your risk of developing cancer is reduced through marijuana use. Of course these studies do not get the same media attention as the studies about carcinogen content, mostly for the simple fact that they are just too controversial for a news channel to air without catching a lot of heat.


    What is interesting is that most newer studies are now focusing on how marijuana could actually be a potential cure for certain types of cancer. A study published in the journal Nature Cancer Review describes how researchers had destroyed otherwise incurable brain tumors in rats by injecting them with THC. Want to hear something even crazier? Back in 1974 the government funded a study at the Medical College of Virginia, this study was intended to find evidence that marijuana weakened the immune system. What the researchers found instead was that THC slowed the growth of lung cancer, breast cancer, and a virus induced leukemia in the lab mice. The DEA then responded by shutting down the Virginia study and all further marijuana/tumor research. This means that for the last 37 years the government has known that marijuana could be a potential cancer treatment, but instead of funding more research they tried to cover it all up. Isn't it strange? How could something that is supposedly a cause of cancer cure the exact same sickness?


     So lets say that after all this evidence you are still convinced that marijuana causes cancer. If that is the case, then please explain to me why not one case of lung cancer has ever been directly linked to marijuana use. That's right, not even one single case. No professor, no DEA agent, no civilian, and certainly no doctor has ever linked one single case of lung cancer to the use of marijuana. Think about it, if there were cases of cancer coming directly from marijuana use, wouldn't the anti-drug ads be parading these cases throughout the media? It just doesn't make sense to me, there isn't one recorded case of lung cancer from marijuana use, yet somehow people still believe that it causes cancer.


    So after all this, why could it be that people still think that marijuana causes cancer (not to mention all the other myths that people buy into)? The reasoning is simple; marijuana is a taboo subject. This is the reason why if you ask a politician a question about the U.S. drug policy over half of them would probably end up just dodging the question. This is the same reason why news channels cant air stories of the potential benefits of marijuana (which include cancer treatment). This also happens to be the same reason why people are so misinformed about marijuana; because there is a lack of communication surrounding the subject. When a study comes out saying something along the lines of, “Marijuana should cause cancer.” That study will be used time and time again to say that marijuana does cause cancer. But when a study comes out saying that there are potential benefits to marijuana, that study wont receive the same attention because its too controversial. This leads to people being misinformed about the drug, and that in turn leads to laws being created based on that same misinformation. I think that you can fool people some of the time, but you can never keep it up forever. People are bound to wake up and see the real situation eventually.
    Resources:
    Two Marijuana Cancer Studies You Probably Never Heard About
    Study Finds No Cancer-Marijuana Connection - washingtonpost.com
    THC (marijuana) helps cure cancer says Harvard study | NowPublic News Coverage
    So, you thought it was the tar that caused cancer...
     
  2. #2 idkwhereiam, Mar 6, 2011
    +rep bro, good shit. very informative
     
  3. #3 skinny ninja, Mar 7, 2011
    Good information to spread to the public and organized very well so +rep for that
    But as a writer, it seems like you kinda took a lot of things that they say in the movie The Union and just changes the words a little. not sure if thats the case though, considering alot of these documentaries all contain similar information. just constructive criticism
    Still good stuff dude
     
  4. #4 Absolam, Mar 7, 2011
    Marijuana itself has never been a cause of lung cancer. If it were anti weed smokers would be displaying black lungs all over the place. Nice info dude.
     
  5. #5 millyy, Mar 7, 2011
    Very good read, i actually learned a bit from it as well! Thanks man!
     
  6. #6 Deku, Mar 7, 2011
    +rep. Very organized and very informative. If I ever get caught or have to convince someone to know the truth about ganja, I'll add this to the list of things to read/watch.

    On the constructive criticism side, the last sentence in the second to last paragraph and the first sentence in the last paragraph sound very similar.

    Just sounds a little weird, is all. Again, very nice and informative.
     
  7. #7 aRizzy, Mar 7, 2011
    Didnt read all of it, but great shit bro.
    Book marking!
     
  8. #8 LulzMaximus, Mar 7, 2011
    My counselor gave me a paper off of an anti-drug website stating that weed has 4 times the carcinogens that cigarettes do. Can't wait to rub this in his face :p

    Thank you so much, +rep
     
  9. #9 mur13, Mar 7, 2011
    This is the problem I have with the whole idea that marijuana "CANNOT CAUSE CANCER"

    Using your own resources,


    Inhalation of smoke is dangerous to your lungs, and can be cancerous eventually. We've all read the research that says lab mice, already affected with cancer, were injected with THC, however, what these studies do not disclose is the dosage of THC in relation to the dosage of THC one gets from popular smoking methods (bowl, joint, etc.) If the dosage is significantly higher, it really does nothing to support the idea that marijuana smoke doesn't cause cancer. Absorbing and retaining THC through your lungs is a whole different animal than intravenous injection. Besides, these studies also prove nothing in the way of cancer prevention, all they show me is that once cancer cells are already present, THC can be successful in inhibiting the growth of more cancer cells. It isn't saying THC is akin to toothpaste in the way that regular usage prevents gum disease and gingavitis, moreso it proves that its like asprin used to treat headaches. It is exactly that, a treatment.


    These studies also say nothing about the intake method of said marijuana. Vaporizing may provide all the health benefits of marijuana without the negative aspects of smoking it, and I will acquiesce to this. However, a large portion of cannabis users are not equipped with vaporizers, so the point is moot.


    And the age-old "you can't point out a single case of lung cancer from smoking marijuana!". I roll my eyes at this. The fact of the matter is, you hit it right on the head, marijuana is a taboo subject. Causes of cancer are difficult to pinpoint on an individual basis anyway, it is much easier to point out high risk activities like cigarette smoking as causes of cancer. The division of tobacco users versus cannbis users is high; anti-smoking agencies are going to focus on the elephant in the room (tobacco) and let the government dissuade us against cannabis use because of it is illegal. Why preach to a smaller group of people about the health risks of using an illegal drug when you can reach far and wide and try to bring down Big Tobacco? Cancer that may or not be caused by marijuana smoke are swept under the rug while cancer caused by tobacco are added o the thousands of pieces of evidence used against tobacco companies.


    You can get cancer any time, even if you drink only water, eat healthily, and live a good life. For the most part cancer is arbitrary and random. Do you think a 60 year old man, with children and grandchildren, who used marijuana heavily in his youth (but never smoked cigarettes), is going to want to tell his family, friends, and community the cancer he was just diagnosed with probably came from his marijuana use? No, he's going to let it slide and chalk it up to bad luck in hopes to avoid embarrassment. Its much easier to say, "yes, I ignored the risk and smoked tobacco and now I have lung cancer", than it is to say "I used an illegal drug heavily enough to give me cancer"



    That brings me to my next point: marijuana usage increased exponentially in the 20th century, particularly about the year 1945 or later. I know cannabis has been used for thousands of years, but medical understanding of what we know as "lung cancer" did not begin to materialize until the early 1800s, when cannabis usage was relativley low (compared to now). We are just now beginning to see the youths who started using cannabis heavily in the 60s and 70s come to an age where lung cancer may or may not affect them. In comparison, though, tobacco use has been heavily spread throughout the world for much longer, and in fact, the first link between smoking and lung cancer came about in 1921. Cannabis cannot be compared to tobacco in terms of usage per population, so the same links were not drawn.


    And my last point about it all, cannabis has been used for thousands of years. Who is to say ancient people who used cannabis weren't keeling over left and right from lung cancer? There's quite a large discourse between recorded cannabis use and unrecorded use, especially in regards to the health effects it had on people.
     
  10. #10 GutteralShiva, Mar 7, 2011
    tl;dr.



    Never been proving to cause any cancer. But I'd heard It can help prevent lung/brain cancer. Something about it gets rid of dead cells which can be cancer prone. Smoking blunts everyday although, can cause cancer.
     
  11. #11 skinny ninja, Mar 7, 2011
    @mur13
    thats exactly what I was thinking about the whole thing honestly
    I used to be running around informing everyone that theres no bad effects, until I started coughing up a shitload of mucus and phlegm. also, I saw blood for a short while and had to be put on steroids
    if you're trying to convince someone on health issues, you're probably going to lose anytime you advocate smoking anything
    but in all honesty, cancer is random and doesnt matter if you lived healthy or not. I was going to seriously get healthy a while back. I was gonna eat really well, quit smoking, work out constantly, all that stuff. until a few weeks ago, when my mom who has never done any drugs, smoked, or even drank alcohol more than 2 times a year was diagnosed with cancer. shes only in her mid-40s and buys organic everything and tries so hard to live healthy. it seriously just made me take a step back and realize that life doesnt work out if you follow a certain plan. cancer can find you if it wants to
    I once had a teacher that said " if you were immortal to all natural deaths/diseases (heart attacks, etc) then eventually you'd die of cancer"
     
  12. #12 theduck, Mar 7, 2011
    haha. The problems you have with the articles you could find are BS. No studies will ever say that something is proven, they always say" may" or "might", its just the way scientific studies are worded. . I could go into a discussion of why this is so, but I got too much calculus to do.
     
  13. #13 B-J-G, Mar 7, 2011
    Last edited: Sep 6, 2020
    .
     
  14. #14 pauskocak, Mar 7, 2011
    confused.. but well, when there's no death caused by marijuana.. I will smoke it :)
     
  15. #15 Sentenal51, Mar 7, 2011
    yeah haha took a few quotes from the union, but not worried about the teacher calling plagiarism. pretty sure she hasnt seen the union cuz if she had she probably wouldnt try to teach us a bunch of anti-weed propaganda bullshit.
     
  16. #16 ToastyRoadie, Mar 7, 2011
  17. #17 Sentenal51, Mar 11, 2011
    thanks for the article bro! good shit in there!
     

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