Prof Springer added: “There is widespread belief that, unlike tobacco smoke, marijuana smoke is benign”.
Advertisement
Scientists have long acknowledged the adverse health effects of secondhand cigarette smoke. “It is important that the public, medical personnel, and policymakers understand that exposure to secondhand marijuana smoke is not necessarily harmless”.
Exposure to secondhand cigarette smoke is known to cause health problems in children, including more frequent and severe asthma attacks, respiratory infections and even sudden infant death syndrome, or SIDS. Now, a new study has found exposure to secondhand marijuana smoke is more damaging to heart health than inhaling secondhand tobacco smoke.
“If people think marijuana smoke is somehow exempt from the harmful effects of tobacco and many other kinds of smoke, this is evidence that it is not”, said study senior author Matthew Springer, a professor of medicine in the division of cardiology at the University of California, San Francisco.
“My own work on the vaporizer suggests that those who are concerned about secondhand cannabis smoke can encourage their pals to turn to vaporized or edible products”, he said. “It’s a reasonable extension to think that humans will respond to marijuana smoke similarly to the rats”. As arteries get consistently stressed out, the chances they’ll harden and clog increase, making it much harder for them to pump blood throughout the body.
The study revealed that the blood flow in the arteries of rats that had inhaled secondhand marijuana smoke for one minute was less efficient for at least 90 minutes.
However, most people believe marijuana is less harmful.
Although the impaired cardiovascular function due to exposure to secondhand marijuana and tobacco smoke is temporary but continuous exposure can transform these temporary problems into long-term heart problems.
The study shows cannabis smoke reduces the amount of blood carried by arteries for three times as long as normal cigarette smoke – the effect of which lasts just 30 minutes.
Advertisement
Researchers also found the mere burning of the plant material appears responsible for the impaired blood vessels, not chemicals like nicotine and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, nor rolling paper. Inhaling smoke is bad for you – period, researchers said.
