Marijuana to Carry Cancer Warning in CA
June 23rd, 2009 by Russ
Last Friday, California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment declared that marijuana smoke is to be put on a list of substances classified as known carcinogens. Due to the ruling, all medical marijuana sold in the state will have to contain a warning label. According to Proposition 65, no business can intentionally expose people to cancer-causing substances without providing a clearly posted warning.
The OEHHA made the ruling after a presentation (warning: PDF) that peripherally linked several components in pot smoke to cancer studies.
In the opinion of the OEHHA’s Deputy Director, Dr. George Alexeeff:
There’s not one single piece of evidence that was a slam dunk… But the pieces together form a very compelling argument.
While the report itself can only point to a handful of studies that connect marijuana and cancer in a statistically significant way, the panel claimed that marijuana smokers may be less likely to report accurately on their conditions and may even outright lie to researchers and interviewers about their habits. It seems odd that a scientific study should rely so heavily on biased assumptions about the truthfulness of pot smokers.
In the meantime, you can always follow the advice of latter-day prophet, Bill Hicks:
This says that smoking can cause low birth weight and premature birth. Screw it. Found my brand. Just don’t buy the ones that say lung cancer… Yep, gimme a pack of them low-birthweights.
Consumers of edible marijuana products (brownies, lollies, etc.) will be happy to know that the warnings do not apply to their favorite confections. Also, many advocates of smoking point out that vaporized weed contains none of the particulate matter that are being called carcinogens.
