No Surprise: Marijuana Isn't Harmless

Feb 6, 03:50 PM

Feb 4, 2008 2:21 PM

For all the debates that go on regarding the failed American war on drugs, marijuana has had a pretty good run when it came to the poster child for the legalization crowd as effectively the ‘harmless’ sibling of the recreational drugs. All science and sociological studies have turned up little proof of the dangers of pot and have vexed the anti-drug lobby, deflecting every attempt to put it high on the list of drugs to avoid.

Marijuana has consistently been shown to pose little if no health threat, has not been found responsible for a rise in the levels of crime or as a gateway to more dangerous narcotics and whose side effects are laughably easy to dismiss as curious and for the most part innocuous. Even many health professionals recommend marijuana to their patients who battle with cancer and other debilitating diseases.

Marijuana to the objective observer has so far enjoyed an easy ride. Till now. A new study has shown that marijuana smoke is even more dangerous than tobacco smoke and that the potential incidence of lung cancer and other pulmonary diseases.

For years, tobacco had enjoyed a free ride from science until reality caught up. Now it’s pot’s turn. But is anyone surprised? How could anyone not suspect that taking a dried plant, setting fire to it and then inhaling all the smoke over the long term would do absolutely nothing to the health of the individual? I had always personally suspected that smoking anything was not a good idea. Now science is catching up.

Looks like tobacco’s got a new partner when it comes to an assault on health from completely unnecessary substances.

Put that in your pipe and smoke it.