Of Mice & Marijuana – A New Study To Consider When Smoking Around Others

The Yakima City Council approved lifting a voter sanctioned marijuana ban earlier this year for the growing, packaging and retail sales of recreational marijuana. Personal possession and smoking weed was already legal but the move was still controversial as the state & nation try to figure out the health benefits and threats of cannabis.

Now new research suggests exposure to secondhand marijuana smoke might be slightly worse than exposure to secondhand cigarette smoke.  Published in the Journal of the American Heart Association, researchers found that in mice, inhalation of secondhand marijuana smoke for one minute diminished blood vessel function to the same degree as inhalation of tobacco smoke for the same amount of time. Also, the cardiovascular effects lasted longer in the mice exposed to the marijuana smoke than those exposed to tobacco smoke.

Study author, Dr. Matthew Springer says, "At this point, we're saying that inhaling any smoke is detrimental to your health. I think that people should avoid inhaling smoke whether it's from tobacco or marijuana cigarettes, forest fires, barbecues-- just avoid smoke." (Fox)