5 ms·

The really interesting studies will be longitudinal IMO. It's almost certainly not going to be another tobacco, but it strikes me as impossible that smoking ma

The really interesting studies will be longitudinal IMO. It's almost certainly not going to be another tobacco, but it strikes me as impossible that smoking marijuana is harmless. Should also be interesting to see what marijuana culture develops when the entire country is allowed to consume it legally.

alistairSH 8y ago
Do we know what percentage of cannabis users actually smoke raw plant vs edibles, oils, etc? Not that the other products are necessarily harmless, but probably less problematic for lung health than smoking a giant blunt.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
neonscribe 8y ago
It is extremely likely that inhaling combustion products of any kind is harmful to our health.
- shittyadmin 8y ago
  Pretty much - however the differences we've seen so far are quite interesting. Lung cancer and COPD risks don't seem to be what we'd think for cannabis smoke based what we know of tobacco smoke. Somewhat more minor lung conditions are definitely present though. It'll also be interesting to see how things like dry herb vapes differ, they basically just heat the cannabis to 350-400 degrees where the cannabinoids and terpenes vaporize without burning it, they seem like the best way to go if you want a reasonably good dose control and safety margin at the moment. Avoids many of the issues with concentrate vapes, flavorings, cheap heating coils, etc but I still have some doubts on perfect safety there.
- Simon_says 8y ago
  Agreed. But you can ingest marijuana.
- titzer 8y ago
  Use a vaporizer or one of the myriad ways to decarboxylate and extract THC in its pure form and you can avoid this.
saiya-jin 8y ago
It certainly isn't completely harmless, very few things are. Subjective perspective - smoking is really bad, can be dramatically improved with good vaping but its still harmful. One of the great side effects of legalization - health-conscious people have less damaging options for consumption. Eliminated by eating the material, but then effects are a bit different. There have been some rumors on lower sperm count/lowered movement, not sure if related more to smoking any material or something in cannabis causing it. For short term buzz maybe some nasal spray would be great (again, legalization can help this get done properly). Then there are mental effects - people are mentally incapacitated, usually even day after is felt, short term memory negatively impaired. Long term frequent usage leads to mild dependence, which can be given up much easier compared to ie cigarettes. Can trigger dormant mental illnesses, and amplify them with long term usage (I guess paranoia is the most common one, schizophrenics would be also bad - same can be achieved with any other drug including alcohol, or big shock like car crash). Side effects of behavior can be quite destructive too - 'munchies' cravings for unhealthy food (sweet, fried etc) - long term disastrous for health just like any other overeating. I can't think of anything else right now, but for sure there is something else. Overall relatively low harm, especially when things like alcohol and tobacco roam civilization almost freely
- 131012 8y ago
  Munchies can be about eating anything. Just make sure you got plenty of fruits and veggies or go for a long session of oral sex. Nobody ever got in bad shape for eating a full bag of baby cut carrots or a whole tray of peaches.
  - cheeko1234 8y ago
    Wow. One of those things is not like the other...
    - arcticbull 8y ago
      What's wrong with the tray of peaches :P
- 8y ago
sigstoat 8y ago
> It's almost certainly not going to be another tobacco, but it strikes me as impossible that smoking marijuana is harmless. it is known not to be harmless. it can cause cardiovascular issues. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijcard.2006.08.001 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijcard.2006.08.001
- arcticbull 8y ago
  Probably not if you eat it, though.
  - sigstoat 8y ago
    i suggest perusing the bibliography before you get your hopes up.
Spooks 8y ago
the packaging for cannabis in Canada (well at least Ontario) already states that smoking is harmful, as well as other health issues
arountheworld 8y ago
There is a decades-long study by Tashkin et al., not being able to find that smoking cannabis is significantly harmful. I am on my phone so don't have it at hand.
stefek99 8y ago
Marijuana can be ingested in many ways, smoking being probably the most harmful due to combustion. > smoking marijuana is harmless The opposite. Consuming (know your dosage, know your substance) can have a variety of health benefits. It is worth noting there a known side-effects too: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medical_cannabis#Impact_on_psychosis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medical_cannabis#Impact_on_psy...

alistairSH 8y ago

Do we know what percentage of cannabis users actually smoke raw plant vs edibles, oils, etc? Not that the other products are necessarily harmless, but probably less problematic for lung health than smoking a giant blunt.

deleted 8y ago
[deleted]

neonscribe 8y ago

It is extremely likely that inhaling combustion products of any kind is harmful to our health.

shittyadmin 8y ago
Pretty much - however the differences we've seen so far are quite interesting. Lung cancer and COPD risks don't seem to be what we'd think for cannabis smoke based what we know of tobacco smoke. Somewhat more minor lung conditions are definitely present though. It'll also be interesting to see how things like dry herb vapes differ, they basically just heat the cannabis to 350-400 degrees where the cannabinoids and terpenes vaporize without burning it, they seem like the best way to go if you want a reasonably good dose control and safety margin at the moment. Avoids many of the issues with concentrate vapes, flavorings, cheap heating coils, etc but I still have some doubts on perfect safety there.
Simon_says 8y ago
Agreed. But you can ingest marijuana.
titzer 8y ago
Use a vaporizer or one of the myriad ways to decarboxylate and extract THC in its pure form and you can avoid this.

saiya-jin 8y ago

It certainly isn't completely harmless, very few things are. Subjective perspective - smoking is really bad, can be dramatically improved with good vaping but its still harmful. One of the great side effects of legalization - health-conscious people have less damaging options for consumption. Eliminated by eating the material, but then effects are a bit different. There have been some rumors on lower sperm count/lowered movement, not sure if related more to smoking any material or something in cannabis causing it. For short term buzz maybe some nasal spray would be great (again, legalization can help this get done properly). Then there are mental effects - people are mentally incapacitated, usually even day after is felt, short term memory negatively impaired. Long term frequent usage leads to mild dependence, which can be given up much easier compared to ie cigarettes. Can trigger dormant mental illnesses, and amplify them with long term usage (I guess paranoia is the most common one, schizophrenics would be also bad - same can be achieved with any other drug including alcohol, or big shock like car crash). Side effects of behavior can be quite destructive too - 'munchies' cravings for unhealthy food (sweet, fried etc) - long term disastrous for health just like any other overeating. I can't think of anything else right now, but for sure there is something else. Overall relatively low harm, especially when things like alcohol and tobacco roam civilization almost freely

131012 8y ago
Munchies can be about eating anything. Just make sure you got plenty of fruits and veggies or go for a long session of oral sex. Nobody ever got in bad shape for eating a full bag of baby cut carrots or a whole tray of peaches.
- cheeko1234 8y ago
  Wow. One of those things is not like the other...
  - arcticbull 8y ago
    What's wrong with the tray of peaches :P
8y ago

sigstoat 8y ago

> It's almost certainly not going to be another tobacco, but it strikes me as impossible that smoking marijuana is harmless. it is known not to be harmless. it can cause cardiovascular issues. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijcard.2006.08.001 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijcard.2006.08.001

arcticbull 8y ago
Probably not if you eat it, though.
- sigstoat 8y ago
  i suggest perusing the bibliography before you get your hopes up.

Spooks 8y ago

the packaging for cannabis in Canada (well at least Ontario) already states that smoking is harmful, as well as other health issues

arountheworld 8y ago

There is a decades-long study by Tashkin et al., not being able to find that smoking cannabis is significantly harmful. I am on my phone so don't have it at hand.

stefek99 8y ago

Marijuana can be ingested in many ways, smoking being probably the most harmful due to combustion. > smoking marijuana is harmless The opposite. Consuming (know your dosage, know your substance) can have a variety of health benefits. It is worth noting there a known side-effects too: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medical_cannabis#Impact_on_psychosis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medical_cannabis#Impact_on_psy...