Seriously, what the fuck.
Yesterday we came across an article by USA Today that was covering a new medical study about secondhand smoke and the headline was just absurd. How can secondhand smoke from smoking weed with a bong be 4 times worse than secondhand smoke from cigarettes?
Bullshit right? Let’s take a closer look at the study.
Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, measured fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in a real-world setting where a group of young adults socially smoked cannabis with a bong for two hours in an ordinary household living room. An aerosol monitor was placed where a nonsmoker might sit, recording PM2.5 levels before, during, and after eight sessions.
They found home cannabis bong smoking significantly increased PM2.5 from background levels by at least 100-fold. Within the first 15 minutes of smoking, PM2.5 concentrations surpassed air quality levels deemed safe by the Environmental Protection Agency.
“There are negative attitudes to secondhand tobacco smoke but not really to secondhand cannabis smoke,” said lead study author Patton Nguyen, an industrial hygienist and a graduate of UC Berkeley School of Public Health. “What we want this study to do is really elucidate and help people understand that there are public health concerns.”
Fine particulate matter, or PM2.5, are tiny particles in the air that can travel deep into the respiratory tract, reaching the lungs and impacting their function. Some studies suggest long-term exposure to PM2.5 may be linked to lung and heart diseases.
Study authors said PM2.5 concentrations from cannabis bong smoking were at least four times greater than concentrations from secondhand tobacco smoke from cigarettes or hookah found in previous studies.
Although health experts say the findings are noteworthy, more research is needed before conclusions can be made about smoking marijuana with a bong versus smoking tobacco as researchers did not control how much pot was smoked in the study.
“There’s very little research in this area,” said Dr. Silvia Martins, professor of epidemiology and director of the Substance Use Epidemiology Unit at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. “This (study) is one of the first in a controlled environment.”
Researchers note PM2.5 concentrations also took a long time to return to pre-smoking levels. In one session, levels remained at more than 10 times the original concentration 12 hours after the group stopped smoking.
This suggests people entering a home hours after a bong session could still be affected by secondhand smoke.
“It can actually affect the health of children who are nearby or other people in pretty serious ways,” said corresponding author Katharine Hammond, a professor at UC Berkeley School of Public Health. “We need to wake up to that.”
By the way, windows and doors were closed throughout the study but he says future research will look at how ventilation plays a role in PM2.5 exposure from cannabis smoke.
Therefore, an easy solution would be to just let your windows or a door open when you smoke and the problem is solved, shouldn’t be too hard right?
Let us know in the comments what you think about this study.
Thanks you stupid cunt..can’t smoke in my house anymore because your dumb ass article…go fuckyourself bitch..
My concern is particulate amounts may be higher if the same group smoked cigarettes constantly for two hours. Also, the contents of cigarette smoke are far more toxic than cannabis. The research seems to have parameters for the conclusion the researchers wanted rather than a true result from real world conditions.
I mean it’s a legit question. Can second hand smoke from weed be harmful, in any way. But don’t have such an open study and put out ridiculous information,call it facts,when do many more variables need to be included, studied and concluded on AFTER a significant,and ample amount of time to collect data, cross back, mix match, redo, again and again within that time. Right?
These people are just trying to advocate for the tobacco industry. If smoking from a bong is worse than a cigarette, then why does a joint not have the same effect? It’s glass or ceramic. You can’t possibly tell me that cannabis is worse compared to all the harsh chemicals in tobacco.
I’ve been smoking tobacco for 17 years. But I’m still an advocate for cannabis and hemp related products. I’ll die from lung cancer from tobacco, cannabis will be the cure to the pain!
Omg what a stupid study. They should have studied the difference between tobacco and marijuana and how on its own tobacco has more harmful chemicals in it and how pot can increase lung function (I know from personal experience). They are trying to paint a bad picture on marijuana and in all fact it is not bad at all. It helps so many ailments and heals so many things.
If you get a group of cannabis smokers in a room with a bong and what id assume more cannabis then they could ever smoke in one day provided free by the program id say 5 people could easily rip through an ounce with in a 6 hour period thats equivalent to having 5 people share 2 packs of cigarettes (40 cigs) in a closed room for 6 hours. Im pretty sure everyone in the cig smoking room would be unconscious on the floor. The fact that people at the prestigious University of Berkley didn’t use equal amounts of material to smoke for each study tells me it was probably paid by someone who wants cannabis to look bad. Just like the “study” in the 70’s where they gassed monkeys with pure cannabis smoke for 10 min and then reported the findings that cannabis causes brain damage when in reality they just suffocated them with smoke. I call B.S.