THE HEALTH EFFECTS OF MARIJUANA
(Page 3 of 4)
TWO OFFICIAL PERSPECTIVES
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Two organizations have attempted to make sense of the
conflicting data: NIDA (a division of the U.S. Department
of Health and Human Services) and its Canadian counterpart,
the Addiction Research Foundation (a branch of the Ontario
Ministry of Health). Neither of the organizations can be
considered a completely disinterested observer . . . since
their funding comes from legislative bodies which have kept
marijuana illegal. But despite possible bias, the reports
are fairly consistent with each other and provide
reasonable overviews of the current "official" consensus on
the adverse effects of this drug. Here are the agencies'
conclusions:
[1] Smoking pot irritates the throat and lungs and may
cause bronchitis in heavy users.
[2] Careful comparison of smoke condensates shows that one
joint deposits about 50% more "tar" in the lungs than does
one nonfiltered cigarette, largely because joints tend to
be smoked down to smaller butts, and pot smokers typically
hold the smoke in their lungs longer.
[3] Marijuana's smoke has as many carcinogenic polycylic
aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH's) as tobacco smoke does,
although some PAH's—benzopyrene, for
example—are more abundant in pot smoke, while others
are less. Marijuana, however, contains neither
nicotine—which is a very potent poison—nor (in
most cases) the pesticide residues typically found in
tobacco smoke, which may accelerate the tumor-inducing
effects of PAH's.
[4] The use of marijuana increases the heart rate and may
prove hazardous to those with heart diseases. It also
reduces testosterone levels in men to the lower end of the
normal scale . . . though these levels do rise again after
the cessation of smoking. The drug also appears to reduce
both sperm count and sperm motility. The active ingredient
in marijuana, delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC),
apparently stimulates these changes, because it binds to
estrogen (the female hormone) receptors and exerts "a weak,
but significant" estrogenic effect. (This activity may be
the reason why there've been anecdotal reports of breast
development, gynecomastia, in men who were heavy users.)
