We live in southern California where teenagers are told everyday via television commercials that smoking pot can help all sorts of medical aliments. As you know smoking pot for medical reasons is legal in California. The kids go to medical clinics saying that they have a pain here or there or have depression and or anxiety and before you know it kids have it justified that since the medical community is supporting this method of treatment it must be okay and safe for them to smoke pot. My son also tells me since the pot is natural it cannot damage the lungs. My father recently died from lung cancer and I am so precoccupied with clean air etc. and protecting the lungs. I am afraid my son will end up with lung cancer or some other lung disease if he continues this path. Can anyone help me teach safety issues when it comes to smoking pot and can it damage other body organs also? Thank you
18 year old smokes pot everyday, can he get lung cancer? - 1252025
pamela77
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Reply # - December 31, 2012, 07:14 AM
Reply To: 18 year old smokes pot everyday, can he get lung
Who said that all natural things don't harm? Tobacco is natural too but it contains nicotine that causes damages to cell DNA that may lead to cancer. Most drugs originate from wild plants like opium poppy or the coca plant. Maybe smoking pot doesn't cause lung cancer but it certainly has a lot of health effects: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effects_of_cannabis
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long-term_effects_of_cannabis
Reply # - December 31, 2012, 09:29 AM
Reply To: 18 year old smokes pot everyday, can he get lung
pamela, I can imagine how difficult it is to be so afraid your son is harming himself.
There's no argument that inhaling smoke causes all kinds of lung problems. I hope he can at least see both sides of the argument. And like panas said. natural is far from being synonymous with good for you.
Good luck to you with getting him to see both sides of the story.
Janine
Reply # - December 31, 2012, 01:37 PM
Reply To: 18 year old smokes pot everyday, can he get lung
Smoking pot absolutely can cause lung cancer. I certainly wouldn't put it in the same category as other street drugs that are illegal around the country, but it's not healthful...and I completely agree that even if marijuana can be helpful for nausea and certain medical issues, it is wildly over-hyped for its medical value, which becomes a complete pretense for people to seek it out as if it's a miracle cure for everything. I don't have an ethical problem with it, but I personally see people seeking it out far, far more energetically than its medical value would remotely justify.
Unfortunately, I don't see an easy way to argue with an 18 year-old about facts, of which there actually aren't a whole lot about the association of marijuana with lung cancer. Most 18 year-olds have very little concept of their own mortality and are often prone to do plenty of things that are well known to be dangerous.
-Dr. West
Reply # - December 31, 2012, 02:33 PM
Reply To: 18 year old smokes pot everyday, can he get lung
Time to take it to your state government since they're the ones that passed the legislation. Check out the wording, as it's supposed to be used for chronic and/or terminal illness-not just any ache, pain or fake illness. Take care, Judy