A new study has found recently that smoking weed or marijuana can expose a person to the same toxins that are found in cigarettes. The study tested the blood and urine of people who smoked only marijuana and found that they had high levels of naphthalene, acrylamide, acrylonitrile than people who did not smoke marijuana. This study was published a few days ago in the EClinical Medicine Journal.
Generally, the argument has been made that smoking weed is safe. A lot of people believe this line of argument.
Naphthalene, for example, is associated with low blood levels, liver and nerve damage, while acrylamide and acrylonitrile have been associated with cancer as well as other health issues. Naphthalene can cause “headache, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, malaise, confusion, anaemia, jaundice, convulsions, and coma,”. Especially in high doses. You might recognize naphthalene from what we call camphor.
Acrylamide is a chemical used in making paper. As well as plastics and dyes, but when you expose vegetables to high temperatures such as fires, acrylamide becomes a toxic by-product. This by-product is harmful when taken in high enough doses. Higher levels of this chemical were found in people who smoked tobacco. Combining weed and cigarettes resulted in even higher levels.
Acrylonitrile is also used in manufacturing plastics. Both acrylamide and acrylonitrile have been classified as probable human carcinogens. A carcinogen simply means a substance that promotes the formation of cancer.
How much of these chemicals are enough to cause issues? There are still ongoing studies and we will update you as soon as we have more information. However, let this information guide your choices going forward.
2 responses
This is an eye opener,thanks for this piece
Thank you