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May 2020
Cannabis is harmful to the lungs, but in a different way to tobacco, causing significant respiratory symptoms such as bronchitis with evidence to suggest it can result in destructive lung disease – sometimes referred to as ‘bong lung’ – in heavy cannabis users.
These are the key findings from a review of research on the effects of smoking cannabis on the lungs undertaken by respiratory specialists, Professor Bob Hancox, from the University of Otago’s Department of Preventive and Social Medicine and Dr Kathryn Gracie, from Waikato Hospital’s Respiratory Department.
Cannabis is the second-most commonly smoked substance after tobacco and the most widely-used illicit drug world-wide. Although cannabis remains illegal in most countries, many countries – like New Zealand – are considering decriminalising or legalising its use.
Professor Hancox explains that much of the debate about legalising cannabis appears to revolve around the social and mental health effects. Both he and Dr Gracie believe policies around the liberalisation of cannabis should consider the wider health effects of smoking cannabis.
“The potential for adverse effects on respiratory health from smoking cannabis has had much less attention than the social and mental health effects,” Professor Hancox says.
“We believe policies around the liberalisation of cannabis should consider the potential impacts on the lungs.
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Abstract - Objective: Alcohol and cannabis misuse are related to impaired cognition. When inferring causality, four nonexclusive theoretical models can account for this association: 1) a common underlying vulnerability model; 2) a neuroplasticity model in which impairment is concurrent with changes in substance use but temporary because of neuroplastic brain processes that restore function; 3) a neurotoxicity model of long-term impairment consequential to substance use; and 4) a developmental sensitivity hypothesis of age-specific effects. Using a developmentally sensitive design, the authors investigated relationships between year-to-year changes in substance use and cognitive development.
Is Marijuana Safer than Alcohol?
Conclusions: Beyond the role of cognition in vulnerability to substance use, the concurrent and lasting effects of adolescent cannabis use can be observed on important cognitive functions and appear to be more pronounced than those observed for alcohol.
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by National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre
In the first Australian study of its kind, 559 cannabis-related deaths identified between 2000 and 2018 have been examined by researchers at the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre (NDARC), UNSW Sydney.
The leading cause of death was accidental injury (30 percent), followed by suicide (25 percent), and polysubstance toxicity (17 percent).
Lead author, Ms Emma Zahra said motor vehicle accidents were the leading cause of accidental injury deaths (75 percent).
"One in five motor vehicle accident deaths were pedestrians, highlighting that acute cannabis and polysubstance intoxication can affect information processing and perception of risk."
None of the deaths identified were due to cannabis toxicity alone.
The mean age of death was 35.8 years and more than 80 percent of cases were male. 62 percent were aged under 40 years with the highest proportion of cases in the 30-39 age bracket.
"Men were over-represented and were three times more likely to die due to accidental injury than women," said Ms Zahra
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Abstract
Cannabis is the third most used psychoactive substance worldwide. The legal status of cannabis is changing in many Western countries, while we have very limited knowledge of the public health impact of cannabis-related harms. There is a need for a summary of the evidence of harms and risks attributed to cannabis use, in order to inform the definition of cannabis risky use. We have conducted a systematic review of systematic reviews, aiming to define cannabis- related harms. We included systematic reviews published until July 2018 from six different databases and following the PRISMA guidelines. To assess study quality we applied the AMSTAR 2 tool. A total of 44 systematic reviews, including 1,053 different studies, were eligible for inclusion.
Harm was categorized in three dimensions: mental health, somatic harm and physical injury (including mortality).
Evidence shows a clear association between cannabis use and psychosis, affective disorders, anxiety, sleep disorders, cognitive failures, respiratory adverse events, cancer, cardiovascular outcomes, and gastrointestinal disorders.
Moreover, cannabis use is a risk factor for motor vehicle collision, suicidal behavior and partner and child violence. Cannabis use is a risk factor for several medical conditions and negative social consequences. There is still little data on the dose-dependency of these effects; evidence that is essential in order to define, from a public health perspective, what can be considered risky use of cannabis.
This definition should be based on quantitative and qualitative criteria that informs and permits the evaluation of current approaches to a regulated cannabis market.