DENVER — As more states are legalizing the use of marijuana, some physicians throughout the country — and in Colorado — are calling for more research to find out whether lung cancer could be possibly caused by smoking marijuana.
Currently, there is absolutely no large study demonstrating a direct link between the two.
However, Dr. Jenifer Marks, a general thoracic surgeon at the Medical Center of Aurora, says that this is a public health question.
“They are exposing their lungs to irritants that could lead to many lung conditions that are known and materials. And although we do not know that lung cancer is among them, it also took us a really long time to prove that cigarettes and tobacco contribute to lung cancer,” Marks said.
But marijuana advocates say that this is a question that has been asked and answered.
“Case is closed,” said Mason Tvert, at the Marijuana Policy Project in Denver.
He cites a report from the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine, and studies by UCLA professor Donald Tashkin.
“The longest, largest studies that have been done on cannabis smoking and cancer have concluded that not only is there no link between using cannabis and developing cancer, people who smoke cannabis are not as likely to create these lung problems than people that are non-smokers,” Tvert said.
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