*Cannabis isn’t linked to any of the major risks associated with tobacco smoking, according to researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles.
As part of their longitudinal study, researchers compared groups of people who smoked marijuana currently, previously, or never, KTLA reports. Several of the subjects were studied for more than four years.
“Neither former nor current marijuana smoking of any lifetime amount was associated with evidence of COPD progression or its development,” the study said.
The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws noted that the findings, “are consistent with those of prior studies concluding that cannabis inhalation, even long-term, is not positively associated with COPD, lung cancer, or irreversible airway damage.”
“They should be reassuring to cannabis consumers and to health professionals alike, and they should help to guide future policies with respect to the crafting of evidence-based public health messages and associated regulations,” NORML’s Deputy Director Paul Armentano said in a statement.
The UCLA researchers published the study, “Impact of Marijuana Smoking on COPD Progression in a Cohort of Middle-Aged and Older Persons,” in the journal “Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Diseases” in May.
“Because of our study’s limitations, these findings underscore the need for further studies to better understand longer term effects of marijuana smoking in COPD,” the researchers wrote.
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