Chest
Volume 78, Issue 5, November 1980, Pages 699-706
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Respiratory Status of Seventy-Four Habitual Marijuana Smokers

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Previous studies of the long-term effects of habitual marijuana smoking on respiratory status and lung function have yielded conflicting results. In the present study, lung function tests obtained in 74 regular marijuana smokers (duration of smoking > two-five years; frequency of smoking three days/week to several times/day) who denied intravenous narcotic drug abuse were compared with similar tests performed in two groups of control subjects. One group consisted of individuals tested in a mobile laboratory who were computer-matched to the marijuana smokers for anthropometric characteristics and quantity and duration of tobacco smoking; the other group was comprised of 41 nonsmokers of marijuana who were tested in the same laboratory as the marijuana smokers. Paired and unpaired t analyses revealed lower values for specific airway conductance (–0.07 to –0.08 ± 0.02; P < 0.001) in the marijuana smokers compared with either group of control subjects, but no differences in spirometric indices, closing volume or ΔN2 750–1250. When non-tobacco smoking marijuana users (n = 50) were matched with either non-tobacco smoking or tobacco smoking control subjects, significant differences were again noted in specific airway conductance (P < 0.001) but not in spirometric tests, closing volume or ΔN2 750–1250. These results suggest that habitual smoking of marijuana may cause mild, but significant, functional impairment predominantly involving large airways which is not detectable in individuals of the same age who regularly smoke tobacco. The clinical implications of these findings await further study.

Section snippets

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Healthy young, male volunteers, who considered themselves regular smokers of marijuana, were recruited through newspaper advertisements to participate in one or more studies of the cardiopulmonary and other biologic effects of cannabis at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) Center for the Health Sciences.4, 5, 6, 16, 17 Of the 75 subjects selected for these studies, one black individual whose height was 198 cm (6 ft, 6 in) was excluded from the present analysis because of our

RESULTS

Physical examination of the 74 habitual marijuana smokers showed no abnormalities with respect to the heart and lungs. Only two of the marijuana smokers complained of definite respiratory symptoms (cough and sputum production). Two other marijuana smokers had a childhood history of asthma. Six individuals in the matched group of control subjects complained of cough and three of these raised phlegm and complained of wheeze; one additional control subject also complained of wheeze, but no subject

DISCUSSION

Since the matched control subjects were not questioned regarding their use of marijuana or other illicit drugs, the number of individuals in this control group who smoked marijuana is not known. However, the percentage of these subjects who used marijuana regularly could be estimated from the results of nationwide surveys conducted during the time that the control subjects were actually studied. According to these surveys, 6.7 percent of men in the 18-to-25-year age group who resided in urban

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors are indebted to James W. Sayre, Ph.D., and Anne H. Coulson for their assistance in data management and analysis and to Gale Ivie for her secretarial help in preparing the manuscript.

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    Presented at the Annual Meeting, American Thoracic Society, Boston, May, 1978.

    Supported in part by Contract No. HSM 42-71-89 from the National Institute on Drug Abuse and by Grant No. ES 01473-01 from the National Institute of Environmental Health Science, National Institutes of Health.

    Manuscript received October 15; revision accepted December 27.

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