Smoking marijuana can damage the lungs and airways more than cigarettes, according to a Canadian study released Tuesday.
Researchers at the University and Hospital of Ottawa examined chest X-rays of 56 marijuana smokers, 57 non-smokers, and 33 tobacco-only smokers between 2005 and 2020.
They found higher rates of airway inflammation and emphysema – a chronic lung disease – among regular marijuana smokers compared to regular cigarette smokers and non-smokers.
“Cannabis use is on the rise and there is a perception that marijuana is safe, or safer than tobacco cigarettes,” Giselle Revah, a radiologist at the Ottawa Hospital where the research was carried out, told AFP. “But this study raises concerns that this might not be true,” she added.
She said the higher rates of inflammation and disease among marijuana smokers compared to tobacco smokers could be related to differences in how the two substances are consumed.
“Marijuana is smoked without a filter, whereas tobacco is usually filtered,” she said. “When you smoke unfiltered marijuana, more particles enter your airways, settle and irritate your airways,” she said.
In addition, he added, in the case of marijuana, the puffs tend to be larger and the smoke is retained in the lungs for a longer time, which can cause greater trauma to these organs.
Despite these possible explanations, the authors of the study, published in the journal Radiology, noted that some marijuana smokers also smoked tobacco and that some lung scans produced inconclusive results, suggesting that more study is needed.
As Revah pointed out, there is little research on the health effects of cannabis, as the substance is banned in most countries.
In Canada, where the study was conducted, recreational marijuana use was legalized in 2018.
The use of the drug is also allowed in Uruguay and Mexico among other countries, and in much of the United States. Other venues have decriminalized marijuana possession or approved its medicinal use.
Translation by Azahara Ortega
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