Canadian Scientists Want To Know If Smoking Marijuana Harms The Lungs
BOSTON (CBS) - Last week, Canada became the second country to legalize marijuana, but now Canadian scientists say more research is needed to know whether smoking pot is harmful to the lungs.
While many tout the drug's medicinal uses, some experts think those benefits have been overstated and that the potential harms have been understated.
Marijuana is similar to tobacco except that it contains THC which causes the "high". Some studies have suggested smoking the drug can cause respiratory symptoms and lung inflammation but what about long-term use? Can smoking marijuana cause lung cancer and chronic lung disease like COPD? We just don't know for sure.
Now that the drug has been legalized in Canada and use is growing in many parts of the world scientists are calling on larger human and animal studies to answer some of those pressing questions.
