Study Finds No Cancer-Marijuana Connection

[devilgrrl]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/25/AR2006052501729_pf.html

Study Finds No Cancer-Marijuana Connection

By Marc Kaufman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, May 26, 2006; A03



The largest study of its kind has unexpectedly concluded that smoking marijuana, even regularly and heavily, does not lead to lung cancer.

The new findings "were against our expectations," said Donald Tashkin of the University of California at Los Angeles, a pulmonologist who has studied marijuana for 30 years.

"We hypothesized that there would be a positive association between marijuana use and lung cancer, and that the association would be more positive with heavier use," he said. "What we found instead was no association at all, and even a suggestion of some protective effect."

Federal health and drug enforcement officials have widely used Tashkin's previous work on marijuana to make the case that the drug is dangerous. Tashkin said that while he still believes marijuana is potentially harmful, its cancer-causing effects appear to be of less concern than previously thought.

Earlier work established that marijuana does contain cancer-causing chemicals as potentially harmful as those in tobacco, he said. However, marijuana also contains the chemical THC, which he said may kill aging cells and keep them from becoming cancerous.

Tashkin's study, funded by the National Institutes of Health's National Institute on Drug Abuse, involved 1,200 people in Los Angeles who had lung, neck or head cancer and an additional 1,040 people without cancer matched by age, sex and neighborhood.

:popcorn:

[SteppingRazor]

1. Didn't this come out a while ago? n/t

[devilgrrl]

2. In 2006. Why? Does the research have an expiration date?

:popcorn:

[SteppingRazor]

3. Oh, I see now that you put the date in the OP.

Um ... yeah, I guess my powers of observation are a little off for whatever reason.

:smoke:

[madokie]

4. thanks for posting this as the other study that was posted here a little bit ago

was contrary to what I thought I knew.;-)

[devilgrrl]

5. Oh, btw... Marijuana Cuts Lung Cancer Tumor Growth In Half, Study Shows

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/04/070417193338.htm

Marijuana Cuts Lung Cancer Tumor Growth In Half, Study Shows

ScienceDaily (Apr. 17, 2007) — The active ingredient in marijuana cuts tumor growth in common lung cancer in half and significantly reduces the ability of the cancer to spread, say researchers at Harvard University who tested the chemical in both lab and mouse studies.

They say this is the first set of experiments to show that the compound, Delta-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), inhibits EGF-induced growth and migration in epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) expressing non-small cell lung cancer cell lines. Lung cancers that over-express EGFR are usually highly aggressive and resistant to chemotherapy.

THC that targets cannabinoid receptors CB1 and CB2 is similar in function to endocannabinoids, which are cannabinoids that are naturally produced in the body and activate these receptors. The researchers suggest that THC or other designer agents that activate these receptors might be used in a targeted fashion to treat lung cancer.

"The beauty of this study is that we are showing that a substance of abuse, if used prudently, may offer a new road to therapy against lung cancer," said Anju Preet, Ph.D., a researcher in the Division of Experimental Medicine.


:popcorn:

[iamthebandfanman]

6. yup

the tumor lays on the couch eating food all day... it has no time for expanding ;)

[devilgrrl]

7. Go guzzle a six-pack

:beer::beer::beer::beer::beer::beer:

I hear it's good for you.

[iamthebandfanman]

9. i guess,

if you want the tumor to try to sleep with anything that moves and/or start a fight with an organ.

[wildbilln864]

17. and fights most cancers!

linky
Can't have that now can we!
Also it may make us smarter! link
:hi:
ETA: The second link was originaly published http://www.theglobeandmail.com%2Fservlet%2Fstory%2FRTGAM.20051014.wxcanna1014%2FBNStory%2FspecialScienceandHealth%2F&ord=8974612&brand=theglobeandmail&force_login=true">here but you need a paid subscription.

[BB1]

8. Damn! I just decided not to smoke all day!

This just makes me wanna go to the nearest coffeshop, and try to get cancer.

[Snarkturian Clone]

10. This is why I don't trust the "studies" people post here.

One person can post a study and another can post a study refuting it.

Here's a good one:

Smoking does not cause lung cancer: http://www.journaloftheoretics.com/Editorials/Vol-1/e1-4.htm\

[mdmc]

11. I just saw a link with the opposite

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080129/hl_nm/cancer_cannabis_dc

[mdmc]

13. kick

[Canuckistanian]

12. "even a suggestion of some protective effect"

Pfeh! What does a "pulmonologist" know about lungs, anyways?

[Wizard777]

14. At 76 I've been smoking cigarettes and Marijuana for well over half a century with no ill effects.

In another 12 years it'll be three quarters of a century.

[Swamp Rat]

15. That's a long time!

:D

[Wizard777]

16. I was young. But not that damn young.

I was 9 when I started both. I can can remember when you could smoke a joint in front of a cop and they wouldn't even blink. Then came that terrorist Harry Anslinger.

[Pastiche423]

18. I had not heard of Harry Anslinger

until I read your post.

Found the following at Wikipedia. Does anyone proofread these articles? The grammar in this article is atrocious. And by Anslinger's account, I should have been insane many decades ago.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_J._Anslinger

[tabasco]

19. That shit they feed you in prison probably gives you cancer.

People are in prison for LIFE for POT!

Insane.

[Kitty Herder]

21. That's why we have to end this foolish "war on drugs"

Or, rather one of many reasons. What a waste!

[Zhade]

20. Kick against the lying or ignorant drug warrior fools on this board.

You are wrong.

EAT IT.