Smoking Marijuana May Cause Exposure to Smoke-Related Toxins

Smoking marijuana may cause exposure to several toxins associated with neurological damage and cancer, according to a new study.

The toxins are also found in tobacco smoke, CNN reports.

“Marijuana use is on the rise in the United States with a growing number of states legalizing it for medical and nonmedical purposes — including five additional states in the 2020 election,” senior author Dr. Dana Gabuzda of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston said in a news release. “The increase has renewed concerns about the potential health effects of marijuana smoke, which is known to contain some of the same toxic combustion products found in tobacco smoke.”

The researchers found people who smoked only marijuana had several smoke-related toxic chemicals in their blood and urine, but at lower levels than those who smoked both tobacco and marijuana, or only tobacco.