Homestead mailing list

[EarthNSky <erthnsky AT bellsouth.net>]

I quit smoking 18 months ago. I know some of you smoke marijuana- I
don't- and you probably don't read Fox or Reuters, so I thought I would
pass along this story out of concern for your health.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,526842,00.html

from Reuters:

Marijuana Not Only Gets You High, It Damages Your DNA

Smoking marijuana not only gets you high, but it also alters your DNA.

Researchers at the University of Leicester in England have found
"convincing evidence" that pot smoke damages DNA in ways that could
potentially increase the risk of cancer.

"There have been many studies on the toxicity of tobacco smoke,”
researcher Rajinder Singh said in a news release. “Cannabis in contrast
has not been so well studied."

Singh said cannabis smoke contains 400 compounds including 60
cannabinoids. It also contains 50 percent more carcinogenic polycyclic
aromatic hydrocarbons including naphthalene, benzanthracene, and
benzopyrene, than tobacco smoke, Singh added.

In the journal Chemical Research in Toxicology, the scientists describe
the development of a new method that provides a clear indication that
cannabis smoke damages DNA, under laboratory conditions.

"The smoking of 3-4 cannabis cigarettes a day is associated with the
same degree of damage to bronchial mucus membranes as 20 or more tobacco
cigarettes a day," the team wrote in the journal.

"These results provide evidence for the DNA damaging potential of
cannabis smoke," the researchers concluded, "implying that the
consumption of cannabis cigarettes may be detrimental to human health
with the possibility to initiate cancer development."

Click here for more from the University of Leicester.
--
"Never expect magic from no where"  Baringo (Kenyan) working motto
EarthNSky Farm, NW Georgia, USA