Uruguayans who smoke marijuana experience increased respiratory illnesses

(from Montevideo, Uruguay) – since sale coating The drug is legal in Uruguay, and the country has seen an increase in the number of people who admit to using or having used it at least once. In 2016, only 17% of the population fell into this group, rising to 31% last year, according to consultancy Cifra.Academics are also increasingly interested in understanding what affects Marijuana for health.

A common question raised by Uruguayan doctors and researchers at international conferences is the respiratory effects of smoking marijuana since its legalization.Driven by these questions, pulmonologists, chemists, epidemiologists and physicians from around the world University of the Republic Udelar in Uruguay began investigating the issue.

Results – released this Thursday The Observer—— They concluded that 30% of marijuana smokers (who said they only smoked the drug and no other drugs) Have respiratory symptoms Examples include bronchitis, cough, mucosal inflammation and other acute conditions.

The rate was “slightly lower” than among those who smoked cigarettes, although “considerably higher” than among those who did not take other drugs.

“Smoking marijuana is not harmless“At least there is no effect on the respiratory system,” Verónica Torres, a professor of internal medicine and pulmonologist who led the study, concluded after learning the results.

The academic study looked at nearly 400 similar people and divided them into four groups: one didn’t smoke at all; Another consumed only tobacco; a third said they only smoked marijuana; and a fourth group smoked both drugs.

The study “has only taken a short time so far,” but the researchers were able to test two of their hypotheses: that smoking marijuana has respiratory effects, and The more frequently you consume it, the greater the likelihood of respiratory illness.

Marijuana smoke can cause inflammation of the bronchial lining, leading to coughing, body aches, irritation, and chest tightness. “Although marijuana use is generally not as regular as tobacco use (addicts smoke several cigarettes per day), there is a certain artificiality to smoking marijuana that it shouldn’t be seen as a benevolent thing“said the professor.

It has not yet been proven whether people who smoke marijuana have chronic respiratory disease. That said, cannabis use has not yet been linked to the development of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or lung cancer. Researchers will continue studies for years to confirm or rule out this possibility.

Marijuana is Drugs with lower risk perception s population. More than half of Uruguayan teenagers believe there is no or very little risk in using marijuana “sometimes.” Twenty years ago, the ratio was lower.

Six years after Uruguay allowed the legal purchase of marijuana (although the law dates back to 2013, regulation only began in 2017), nearly 62,000 people are authorized to purchase marijuana at dispensaries and nearly 15,000 are allowed to grow it. There are more than 10,000 cannabis club members in the country.

Consulting firm Cifra recalls that when the law was approved, 66% of the population opposed cannabis regulation. But views have changed over the years. Today’s position is divided into: A majority supports the law (48%), 45% do not. The rest declined to comment.

Marijuana use is more common among men than women, and more common among those under 45 years of age. Half of people under 30 claim to have tried the substance.

In the past, cannabis was associated more with “luxury” consumption, but over the years, access to cannabis has become more democratized, as most people who claim to have tried it are of middle socioeconomic levels.

continue reading: