Alexandra Mitchell - Certified Cannabis Coach & Educator

Recently, headlines such as “Cannabis smokers more likely to develop emphysema than cigarette smokers”; “Is marijuana more harmful to your lungs than cigarettes? A study suggests it may be”.; and “Smoking marijuana can raise risk of lung disease, chest scans indicate” understandably alarmed many cannabis consumers. These headlines were referencing the study “Chest CT Findings in Marijuana Smokers” published in the journal Radiology.

The media have portrayed this research as valid. However, upon a close reading of the research paper, some inconsistencies were apparent.

For this particular study, the goal was to use chest CT to investigate the effects of smoking cannabis on the lungs. The study is a retrospective case control study from Ottawa Hospital. This means that the study was looking at chest CT scans that were taken at the hospital for non-related events. The researchers assigned people to three groups: cannabis smokers, non-smoker control patients, and tobacco smokers. 

However, upon close review of the data, the cannabis smokers were not actually 100% cannabis smokers. This line appears in their study: “There were 50 of 56 marijuana-smokers who also smoked tobacco, with pack-year data specified in only 47 patients; average smoking history was 25 pack-years (range, 0–100 pack-years)”. My reaction was, “Wait. What?” The study says that there are cannabis smokers, non-smoker control patients, and tobacco smokers. How can the cannabis smokers be considered true cannabis smokers when the vast majority of them also smoke tobacco? To me, this makes their findings suspect. How can the researchers truly know whether it is the tobacco smoke or the cannabis smoke that led to their findings? And there is no doubt that they found differences between the smoking groups and the control group. But did they factor in that what they identified as cannabis smokers also smoked tobacco before they drew their conclusions? They did not, as far as can be seen in their research report.

I bring this to the attention of our Effective Cannabis Newsletter community to point out that headlines about the use of cannabis are often misleading. The stigma against cannabis consumption is reinforced in situations such as this, and most people don’t take the time to dig into the research to find out what is actually in it. 

As medical cannabis consumers, we must continue to work toward ending stigma around this plant medicine. We have to advocate for continued research on cannabis and its health effects and we have to read the resulting research with discernment. 

Advocacy organizations such as Americans for Safe Access and NORML are ways that we as consumers can get involved. Americans for Safe Access is an organization with a mission to ensure safe and legal access to cannabis for therapeutic use and research. They have been advocating for patient rights for the past twenty years. NORML was founded in 1970 and has a  mission to educate and change public opinion sufficiently to legalize the responsible use of Cannabis by adults, and to serve as an advocate for consumers to assure they have access to high quality cannabis that is safe, convenient and affordable. Both of these nonprofits work tirelessly on behalf of consumers like us.

For assistance in understanding Cannabis research, Dr. Dustin Sulak of healer.com provides an invaluable resource as he hosts monthly webinars to review current research. These sessions are a free service to the community, and anyone who is interested can register to attend. He breaks down research into terms that can be understood if one has a base knowledge of Cannabis. Healer.com also provides educational articles about Cannabis as a free resource on the site.

The work to normalize the use of Cannabis as medicine is ongoing. I encourage Cannabis medical and recreational consumers to educate themselves and help spread the word about Cannabis and end the stigma associated with it. I know that this journey is a long one. What is one small step that you could take to help?

Editor's Note: The author had full access to this research article. Since this is viewable by purchase only, we can only provide the summary along with this article. If you would like access to the full article contact us at [email protected]

About Alex

Alex Mitchell is a cannabis life coach and educator, as well as a cannabis medical patient. She works with people who are seeking deep change in their lives, whether that is through the use of plant medicine or other change work techniques.

Effective Cannabis Newsletter is a platform to educate on the vital role of the Endocannabinoid System (ECS) in one's health. The information is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. All content, including text, graphics, images, and information, contained in or available through this newsletter is for general information purposes only. It is not medical advice; it is health awareness.