lil angel15
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Cannabis smoke contains more chemicals
Narelle Towie
December 27, 2007 01:38pm
CANNABIS smokers inhale far more toxic chemicals than those who puff on cigarettes new research shows.
When inhaled directly, marijuana smoke contains 20 times more lung-damaging ammonia and five times as much hydrogen cyanide and nitrogen oxides than cigarette smoke, a team led by David Moir at Health Canada reports.
In WA around 235,000 people use cannabis and it is the most widely used illicit drug nationwide, according to a survey by the Australian Governments Institute of Criminology.
Scientists began their research after discovering that although 4000 toxic chemicals are listed in tobacco smoke, no such record exists for cannabis.
With the help of a smoke machine, which 'inhaled' and measured ingredients in smoke, researchers found nearly 20 harmful chemicals in the cannabis samples. Almost all of the cannabis toxins were found in higher concentrations than in cigarette smoke.
They also measured smoke given off from the top of a joint and found that about 85 per cent of this ‘sidestream smoke’ had the same dangerous toxins.
"Cannabis contains similar carcinogens to tobacco, in particular volatile organic compounds," Stephen Spiro of the British Lung Foundation told New Scientist magazine.
"That these exist in similar or even higher proportions to tobacco smoke is a great worry."
Sunday Times