It’s been a long week here at UCLA. You got crushed by
your statistics midterm, the dorm cafeteria served up mystery meat
again, and to top it off, the UCLA basketball team suffered a
heartbreaking loss to that dreaded school across town.
Clearly, you deserve to blow off some steam.
Some students head to the gym or make their way to the closest
happy hour in an effort to relax. And a surprisingly large group of
other students might unwind by smoking pot.
After all, marijuana use among college-age students is again on
the rise. According to the Office of National Drug Control Policy,
over one third of American college students have smoked pot within
the last year.
Yes, marijuana is illegal. But for many underage students, it is
easier to buy pot than a six-pack of Budweiser.
Our generation has been socialized by public service ads warning
against drug use. A strung-out looking girl drops an egg into a
frying pan and says: “This is your brain on drugs. Any
questions?”
But these ads fail to address serious questions like just how
bad pot is for your health and how a marijuana joint stacks up to a
regular tobacco cigarette.
According to the latest research, marijuana can deliver as much
as four times the amount of tar to the lungs as one tobacco
cigarette.
Marijuana smokers inhale more deeply and keep smoke in their
lungs for a longer period of time than cigarette smokers,
increasing the amount of time the harmful chemicals in the smoke
have to damage lung tissue.
Since pot is typically smoked without a filter, these toxic
chemicals reach your lungs more easily those in cigarettes.
Some of the most dangerous by-products of marijuana and tobacco
smoke include tar, carbon monoxide and cyanide.
Levels of benzopyrene, the most potent carcinogen in cigarette
smoke, are even greater in pot smoke.
So if you thought smoking pot was all fun, games and the
munchies, think again.
Studies out of UCLA’s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center
demonstrate marijuana-only smokers have a three-fold higher risk of
head and neck cancer than non-smokers, which is about the same risk
as that from tobacco use.
Compared to those who don’t smoke, people who habitually
smoke both marijuana and tobacco are 36 times more likely to get
cancer.
If that weren’t enough of a buzz kill, smoking pot for
even a few years while in college can potentially be lethal,
leading to cancers of the mouth, tongue and throat. Heavy pot
smokers often also develop chronic cough, wheezing and
bronchitis.
Tetrahydrocannabinol (commonly called THC) is the main
psychoactive chemical in marijuana.
When THC enters your bloodstream by smoking or eating, it binds
to special receptors on cells of your spinal cord and
pain-modulating centers of the brain to decrease sensitivity to
pain. This interaction is the feeling of being high or stoned.
Since THC suppresses neuron function in the
information-processing system of the brain, marijuana use has been
shown to impair memory, concentration and problem-solving,
ultimately reducing academic performance.
It also reduces coordination, hindering your athletic
performance and ability to drive safely.
But what about the proven effects of marijuana for medical
purposes?
THC is available by prescription in a pill form to treat nausea
and vomiting that result from certain cancer treatments, and to
help AIDS patients eat more to keep their weight up.
THC itself does not cause cancer, though animal studies have
found that large concentrations of THC weaken your body’s
immune system.
So while scientists agree that more research on the effects of
THC is needed, it is the substances like tar, cyanide and carbon
monoxide that, when released upon smoking marijuana, cause
definitive harm.
So when you’re in Cancun for spring break and you smell
the sweet scent of pot smoke wafting through the air at a beach
party, consider the consequences before you indulge in a few bong
hits.
Kimberly Shapiro is a first-year medical student at the
David Geffen School of Medicine and a writer for The Diagnosis. The
Diagnosis is coordinated by Daniel Zaghi, a second-year medical
student. Send questions to dzaghi@media.ucla.edu.