A small Canadian study found that cannabis may be more harmful to a smoker's lungs than tobacco.
Between 2005 and 2020 researchers looked at chest X-ray scans of 56 cannabis smokers, 57 non-smoker and 33 tobacco users.
Regular cannabis smokers have higher rates of airway inflammation and emphysema than regular tobacco-only smokers and non-smokers.
Giselle Revah, a radiologist at the hospital where the research was conducted, said that there is a public perception that marijuana is safer than tobacco.
Concerns have been raised that this may not be true.
She said the higher rates of inflammation and disease could be related to the different ways in which cannabis and tobacco are consumed.
She said that marijuana is smoked without the use of filters. More particulates are reaching your airway when you smoke marijuana.
She said that people take bigger puffs and hold the smoke in their lungs longer for marijuana which may lead to more trauma to those air spaces.
The authors of the study pointed out that some of the cannabis smokers also smoked tobacco and that some of the lung scans produced incomplete results, meaning more study is needed.
There is very little research on the health effects of cannabis as it is not allowed in most countries.
Canada legalized the recreational use of cannabis.
Several countries and territories have recently decriminalized possession of the drug or approved its use for medical purposes.
Agence France- Presse.
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