Ok, this may turn out to be a rather long and rambling reply...!
I did not say that Cannabis isn't a danger to health-it is, but please note also that when I said the first death from Cannabis was yet to be recorded, I did not say Cannabis
smoking. It?s patently obvious that if you smoke Cannabis, you usually do so with tobacco, and are therefore going to suffer the same health problems as tobacco smokers, if not greater ones, since you are less likely to use a filter since this takes out a lot of the THC- delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol, the 'active ingredient' in Cannabis- and therefore pretty much negates the point of smoking it. If you smoke something that?s carcinogenic, of course there?s a real risk of cancer!
My point was that Cannabis by itself (not smoked) is very unlikely to kill you.
The question raised about the potentially fatal effects of Cannabis, which are not solely linked to smoking (and therefore are up for serious consideration in relation to my statement) is that of THC.
Your third article (from The Guardian) says:
'It had a marked effect on heart and blood vessels and sudden deaths had been attributed to cannabis smoking.'
This would indicate that the only data available to them was from experiments involving THC levels inhaled in smoke.
There are an awful lot of things in smoke that can lead to sudden death, and I'd be interested to know how they measured what was the effect of the THC as opposed to anything else, though presumably these people are scientists and know what they're talking about.
I've tried and failed to find anything on the effects of THC in regular users who are non-smokers-if anyone else has any luck please let me know.
There is of course the question of mental health issues related to Cannabis use.
Anyone can tell you that it causes short term memory loss, though this fortunately isn't fatal (or I'd be long dead given my memory problems!)
Serious mental illness occurs in a very small fraction of long term users, though it's generally deemed an exacerbating factor of underlying mental illness, rather than the actual sole cause.
Other causes of death? It could be said that people under the influence of Cannabis are more prone to accidents than those who aren't This is probably true, though one of the most famous effects of Cannabis is that it tends not to make you want to do very much, and generally just want to sit around and talk gibberish instead, which keeps a lot of people safe. You certainly never see anyone who's stoned go out and try to pick a fight with someone, the way you do people who are high on other substances including alcohol-it just isn't something that makes you violent or aggressive.
As for road traffic accidents, although Cannabis effects reaction times, since the majority of people don't drive when stoned it causes far fewer accidents than other drugs, particularly alcohol, and even less than sleep deprivation.
You said that your articles took less than a minute to find and collate-can I ask, did you read them before posting them?
I ask this because only the fourth really supports what I think you were trying to say to me (although my argument had nothing to do with smoking).
The first actually negates your argument, since it is pointing out the inaccuracies of another article saying that smoking Cannabis IS a major health risk!
The second speaks hypothetically:
?If the health effects were the same, the corresponding figure from 3.2 million cannabis smokers would be 30,000.?
The third also actually supports my argument, since although it says that:
?Smoking any substance over a long period of time is a bad idea and frequent breathing in of Cannabis smoke can lead to bronchitis and other chest related disorders and may cause lung cancer.?
It states earlier that:
?There is no conclusive evidence that long-term use of Cannabis causes lasting damage to physical and mental health.?
(I am making the assumption here that they are talking about Cannabis itself here, rather than smoking it, since they go on talk about smoking it later in the article.)
Given the contradictions and wide-ranging views held in these articles-even though they are supposed to be all arguing the same basic point-that smoking Cannabis is bad for you, which wasn?t what I was disputing- I?d say the area of deaths from Cannabis use is a fairly hazy one. In reply to the fourth article someone said that the government website for death certificates (or similar) had registered there being seven deaths last year ?from Cannabis? (though I suspect these have been attributed to Cannabis smoking, and therefore tobacco probably also had an impact) and that this is still less than from nut allergies.
It?s also less than the number of people a year who die from cracking their heads on the toilet when throwing up!
I?ve not checked up on his reference, and although I accept that I may have been wrong to say that the first death from Cannabis was yet to occur (my reference for this was probably between 4 and 8 years old) the essence of my previous posting was that there?s a dramatic difference between types of drug addiction, and I stand by that.
I personally don?t agree with Cannabis smoking. Like all forms of smoking, it?s antisocial, bad for you and you inflict it on others around you who have chosen not to smoke.
I?m not a big fan of Cannabis use in its other forms either to be honest- a very stoned person is about as boring as a very drunk person to someone who?s completely sober. These are just personal opinions though, I know that other people feel differently (and I suspect that if this thread continues we?re likely to hit the legalisation debate!)
As an interesting aside though, one which I?m not sure what to make of, I know med students who will take (not smoke) Cannabis and Magic Mushrooms, yet not touch alcohol because (and I quote) ?it?s fucking bad for you, man!?
(incidently, thanks to anyone who actually reads down this far!)
