Smokers who also use pot boost risk of respiratory problems: study

People who smoke both tobacco and marijuana increase their risk of respiratory symptoms and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), say University of British Columbia researchers.

[Study co-author Dr. Wan] Tan and his colleagues did not find any link between smoking only marijuana and increased risk of respiratory illness, but hedged their bets on marijuana’s potential effects.

While tobacco smoking alone was associated with increased risk, smokers who reported using both tobacco and marijuana were nearly 2.5 times more likely than nonsmokers to have respiratory symptoms and almost three times more likely to have COPD.

Those who reported smoking only tobacco were 1.5 times more likely than non-smokers to have respiratory symptoms and more than 2.5 times more likely to have COPD.

The study surveyed 878 people in Vancouver who were at least 40 years old.

Previous studies have found no additional effect from the combination of marijuana and tobacco use on either chronic respiratory symptoms or abnormal lung function in younger smokers.

via Smokers who also use pot boost risk of respiratory problems: study.

So, if you’re over 40, smoking cigarettes is bad for your lungs and smoking pot makes the cigarettes worse on your lungs, but smoking pot by itself doesn’t seem to be an issue in respiratory illness.  Remind me again, which one of those smokes is legal?