France News

Scientific research has shown that heavy users of cannabis may have a higher potential of developing chronic lung disease such as cancer, compared to smokers of plain tobacco.

Two studies that came to these conclusions were published in the Respirology and the European Respiratory Journal.

The first study discovered a higher risk of lung cancer for people who smoked one cannabis cigarette or “joint” per day compared with those who smoked 20 ordinary cigarettes a day over the same period of time.

The other study concluded that bullous disease, which is a type of emphysema, can develop 20 years earlier in cannabis smokers.

The research scientists have speculated that the greater risk to cannabis smokers may be because such a smoker inhales more deeply and for longer, and that this increases the amount of the toxic gas carbon monoxide being also taken into the lungs.

These research findings have been published at a time when the UK government is thinking about changing the laws on the possession of cannabis.