Marijuana (cont.)
What other adverse side effects does marijuana have on health?
Effects on the heart
One study found that an abuser's risk of heart attack more than quadruples in the first hour after smoking marijuana. The researchers suggest that such an outcome might occur from marijuana's effects on blood pressure and heart rate (it increases both) and reduced oxygen-carrying capacity of blood.
Effects on the lungs
Numerous studies have shown marijuana smoke to contain carcinogens and to be
an irritant to the lungs. In fact, marijuana smoke contains 50% to 70% more carcinogenic hydrocarbons than tobacco smoke. Marijuana users usually inhale more deeply and hold their breath longer than tobacco smokers do, which further increases the lungs' exposure to carcinogenic smoke. Marijuana smokers show dysregulated growth of epithelial cells in their lung tissue, which could lead to cancer; however, a recent case-controlled study found no positive associations between marijuana use and lung, upper respiratory, or upper digestive tract cancers. Thus, the link between marijuana smoking and these cancers remains unsubstantiated at this time.
Nonetheless, marijuana smokers can have many of the same respiratory problems
as tobacco smokers, such as daily cough and phlegm production, more frequent
acute chest illness, a heightened risk of lung infections, and a greater
tendency toward obstructed airways. A study of 450 individuals found that people
who smoke marijuana frequently but do not smoke tobacco have more health
problems and miss more days of work than nonsmokers. Many of the extra sick days among the marijuana smokers in the study were for respiratory illnesses.
Effects on daily life
Research clearly demonstrates that marijuana has the potential to cause
problems in daily life or make a person's existing problems worse. In one study,
heavy marijuana abusers reported that the drug impaired several important
measures of life achievement including physical and mental health, cognitive
abilities, social life, and career status. Several studies associate workers' marijuana smoking with increased absences, tardiness, accidents, workers' compensation claims, and job turnover.
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