Photographer: Andrew Burton / Getty Images
Photographer: Andrew Burton / Getty Images
According to a new study, cannabis vaporization may put adolescents at a higher risk of developing symptoms of lung damage than those who smoke cigarettes or marijuana or who smoke nicotine.
Adolescents were about twice as likely to report wheezing or wheezing as those who used e-cigarettes or smoked, the findings from the University of Michigan showed. The researchers also assessed whether participants reported a dry cough at night that was not related to a temporary infection or whistling during exercise.
The findings challenge the conventional wisdom that cigarette smoking or nicotine vaporization is the most harmful to the lungs, said Carol Boyd, principal investigator and professor at the university’s Nursing School.
“Without a doubt, cigarettes and e-cigarettes are unhealthy and not good for the lungs,” Boyd said in a statement on the university’s website. “However, the vaporization of marijuana seems even worse.”
The researchers did not find that the use of electronic cigarettes or cigarettes led to more respiratory symptoms in adolescents who participated in the study. They did not specify where the cannabis products were purchased and whether they were legal.
Steaming devices have become increasingly popular for cannabis use, including in the form of wax or oil. A wave of mysterious lung disease and vapor-related deaths has plunged the industry into turmoil ahead of the coronavirus pandemic. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have finally found a binding of vitamin E acetate, which has been used as a cutting agent in e-liquids containing THC, the main active ingredient in marijuana – often in illicit products.
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The University of Michigan study included thousands of teens between the ages of 12 and 17 who reported symptoms in Tobacco population and health assessment study. One limitation of the report is that it did not look at the shared use of cannabis vaporization and cigarettes or e-cigarettes, the researchers said.
Michael R. Bloomberg, founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, the father of Bloomberg News, campaigned and gave money in support of the US ban on scented electronic cigarettes and tobacco.
(Updates with details on cannabis products from the fifth paragraph.)