Secondhand pot smoke may be more dangerous than secondhand tobacco smoke
From Fox News
"Exposure to secondhand marijuana smoke may impair cardiovascular function as much as exposure to tobacco smoke, new research suggests.
The study, which was published Wednesday in the Journal of American Heart Association, found that, in mice, inhalation of secondhand marijuana smoke for one minute diminished blood vessel function to the same degree as inhalation of tobacco smoke for the same amount of time. Researchers also found these cardiovascular effects lasted longer in the mice exposed to marijuana smoke.
Study authors, from the University of California, San Francisco, examined the reduction of flow mediated dilation (FMD) — a process in which increased blood flow forces arteries to open further — in response to secondhand smoke. This reduction, they said, impedes blood flow and puts the individual at risk for various heart problems.
“Your blood vessels can carry more blood if they sense that they need to pass more blood to the tissues,” senior study author Dr. Matthew Springer, a medicine professor at UC San Francisco, said in a news release. “They dilate to allow more blood through. But that’s inhibited by exposure to smoke.”
Researchers exposed the mice to roughly the equivalent amount of smoke found in restaurants that allow smoking. They found that, in the rodents exposed to one minute of marijuana smoke, there was a more than 50 percent reduction in FMD, the same percent reduction seen in mice that contacted cigarette smoke.
FMD in mice exposed to tobacco smoke, however, recovered in 30 minutes. In mice that inhaled marijuana smoke, FMD took 90 minutes to recover completely— the effects on blood vessel function lasting three times longer than the effects from cigarette smoke.
Many states have now legalized the use of marijuana, and many cities in America allow smoking pot, while at the same time over-regulating, overtaxing and even banning the smoking of tobacco (and its secondhand smoke) in public places. This smoking ban also includes electronic cigarettes - which contain NO tobacco and emits NO smoke. Hmm. And that makes sense, how? In any event, with the new research finding that secondhand smoke from marijuana may be more dangerous than secondhand smoke from cigarettes, will those states immediately repeal laws making marijuana legal and - for health and medical reasons and based on this new research - will all the cities that ban smoking also immediately ban smoking pot in public places? I'll bet they won't. I bet they won't ban smoking pot until and unless the powerful anti-smoking (and anti-vaping) zealots influence politicians to do so. Really? Yes, that's the way it works when it comes to smoking (and other things political). The American political/legal system is rigged and, yes, it's rigged at the state and local level too. For the moment that's GOOD news for pot smokers, who can continue to harm people around them with secondhand pot smoke.
