“Hemp is smoked, just like tobacco, which means it is no less harmful!”

Cigarettes cause the death of nearly half a million Americans every year, so it seems a natural assumption that marijuana smoke breathed into the lungs leads to serious harm to the body, as tobacco does. But this hypothesis could not stand the verification by science. Studies have shown that marijuana and tobacco smoke contains many of the same carcinogens, but tobacco containing nicotine is much more harmful than cannabinoid-containing marijuana.

An extensive study published in 2012 had shown that the active substance itself does not harm the lung function. Other studies have shown that cannabis can even suppress many aggressive cancer cells.

Among other things, we must not forget that people who smoke only hemp do it much less often than those who smoke regular cigarettes, thus they limit the effects of smoke on themselves. Besides, cannabis smokers do not inhale many of the additives that regular cigarettes are stuffed with. Moreover, many studies say that cannabis smoke does not have the same effect on the bronchi as cigarette smoke does, neither can it lead to the emphysema development.

Although smoking is the most common way to use marijuana, there are other ways that would minimize or eliminate the potentially harmful effects on the lungs: for example, ingestion of foods containing cannabis, or using a vaporizer which evaporates active substances instead of burning the plant debris.

Ultimately, how many great athletes-smokers can you name? Very few, since tobacco smoking has a drastic negative effect on the lungs. But there are many lovers of marijuana among the greatest athletes. Is not this a clear proof of absence of any significant harmful effects on the lungs?