Is Smoking Weed Bad for Your Lungs?

Smoking anything is bad for your lungs. That’s because when you smoke, you inhale burned plant matter and chemicals. These chemicals include toxins and carcinogens that can damage your lung tissue.

According to the American Lung Association, smoking weed can lead to:

• Acute bronchitis
• Air pockets between both lungs
• Air trapped between the lungs and the chest wall
• Chronic bronchitis
• Chronic cough
• Increased risk of respiratory diseases
• Injury to the cell lining of the large airways
• Killing lung cells that defend themselves against dust and germs, leading to the development of mucus
• Large air bubbles in the lungs of young to middle-aged adults who are heavy weed smokers
• Lower respiratory tract infections
• mucus production
• Risk of infection if the smoker suffers from an immunosuppressive disease such as HIV infection
• Risk of infection if the smoker takes immunosuppressive medication
• weakened immune system
• panting

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Is there tar in marijuana?

Tar is a sticky substance left behind when plants are burned. It is made up of chemicals and toxins that can damage your lung tissue. When you smoke weed, you inhale tar.

Cannabis smokers tend to have more tar in their lungs than tobacco smokers. This is because they tend to hold the smoke in their lungs longer than tobacco smokers. This increases the time that harmful chemicals are in contact with lung tissue, resulting in higher tar exposure.

The answer to the question you’ve always wondered, “Is weed bad for your lungs?” is that weed itself is not bad for your lungs, but smoking weed is bad for your lungs.

Can smoking weed damage your lungs?

Yes, smoking cannabis damages the human lungs. Researchers at the University of Otago found that “prolonged use of cannabis led to lung hyperinflation and increased air resistance more than tobacco.”

This finding was particularly revealing as it suggested that impaired oxygen extraction, which is the result of over-inflated and airflow-resistant lungs, could be precursor symptoms to the condition that respiratory health professionals dub bong lung.

RELATED: Does Weed Speed ​​Up Your Metabolism?

Bong Lung is a very severe form of emphysema, a condition in which the air sacs in the lungs become damaged and swollen, causing shortness of breath. Very little is known about Bong Lung other than that it is a condition that occurs in the lungs of chronic weed smokers.

A weed smoker’s lungs, especially a chronic weed smoker, become compromised over time. Cannabis smoke damages lung tissue, leading to scarring, damage to small blood vessels, and respiratory problems.

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Can you get lung cancer from smoking weed?

A research report published by the National Institute on Drug Abuse found that cannabis smoke can cause severe coughing due to irritation in the throat and lungs. Coughing after smoking weed is due to the toxic chemicals and tar in the smoke, many of which are similar to the harmful chemicals in tobacco smoke.

While long-term studies on smoking weed and the prevalence of lung cancer do not yet exist, researchers believe there may be a link between lung cancer and weed smoking.

Can smoking weed cause lung cancer?

Cannabis contains the following carcinogenic compounds:

• benzoprene
• benzanthracene
• phenols
• vinyl chlorides
• nitrosamines

Each of the carcinogens listed above are found at higher rates in cannabis smoke than in tobacco smoke. Benzoprene and benzanthracene are particularly alarming. The amount of benzoprene in cannabis smoke is 50% higher than that in tobacco smoke. Benzanthracene content is 75% higher than that in tobacco smoke.

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Additionally, cannabis smokers tend to smoke weed by taking long, slow, steady, deep inhalations that last longer than tobacco smoke, resulting in consumers depositing, on average, four times the tar they would be exposed to from tobacco smoke .

This leads many researchers to believe that the answer to the question “can you get lung cancer from smoking weed” is “yes”.

KEY FACTS: How does smoking weed affect the lungs?

• A weed smoker’s lungs will deteriorate over time, leading to breathing problems.
• Smoking weed deposits four times as much tar as smoking tobacco.
• Smoking weed can increase the risk of lung cancer.
• Cannabis isn’t bad for your lungs, but smoking weed is bad for your lungs.

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