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Source: youtube.com

Editor's Note: There is a groundswell of attention in the news to marijuana's role in causing and preventing various types of cancers. Last week, AlterNet published an article from the Marijuana Policy Project about a new study finding that pot smokers have a lower risk of head and neck cancers than people who don’t smoke pot. Earlier this year, the corporate media pounced on a study suggesting that men who had been using marijuana at least once per week and who had started smoking pot prior to age 18 had an elevated risk of testicular cancer known as nonseminoma, which makes up fewer than half of one percent of all cancer cases among men.

Head, neck and testicular cancers are of course quite serious ailments to deal with, but what about cancer of the most obvious organ at risk with pot smoking, the lungs? Where's the science on that? The article below by Fred Gardner, editor of the medical marijuana research quarterly journal O'Shaughnessy's, shares the results of a major medical study the media completely ignored, and his conclusions are quite blunt on the matter: Smoking pot doesn't cause lung cancer. In fact, the study found that cigarette smokers who also smoked marijuana were at a lower risk of contracting lung cancer than tobacco-only smokers.

Smoking Marijuana Does Not Cause Lung Cancer

by Fred Gardner

One in three Americans will be afflicted with cancer, we are told by the government (as if it’s our immutable fate and somehow acceptable). Cancer is the second-leading cause of death in the U.S. and lung cancer the leading killer among cancers.

You’d think it would have been very big news in June 2005 when UCLA medical school professor Donald Tashkin reported that components of marijuana smoke -- although they damage cells in respiratory tissue -- somehow prevent them from becoming malignant. In other words, something in marijuana exerts an anti-cancer effect!

Tashkin has special credibility. He was the lead investigator on studies dating back to the 1970s that identified the components in marijuana smoke that are toxic. It was Tashkin et al. who published photomicrographs showing that marijuana smoke damages cells lining the upper airways. It was the Tashkin lab’s finding that benzpyrene -- a component of tobacco smoke that plays a role in most lung cancers -- is especially prevalent in marijuana smoke. It was Tashkin’s data showing that marijuana smokers are more likely than non-smokers to cough, wheeze, and produce sputum.

Tashkin reviewed his findings in April 2008, at a conference organized by “Patients Out of Time,” a reform group devoted to educating doctors and the public (as opposed to lobbying politicians). Some 30 MDs and nurses got continuing medical education credits for attending the event, which was held at Asilomar, on the Monterey Peninsula.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse, which supported Tashkin’s marijuana-related research over the decades, readily gave him a grant in 2002 to conduct a large, population-based, case-controlled study that would prove definitively that heavy, long-term marijuana use increases the risk of lung and upper-airways cancers.

What Tashkin and his colleagues found, however, disproved their hypothesis. (Tashkin is to marijuana as a cause of lung cancer what Hans Blix was to Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction -- an honest investigator who set out to find something, concluded that it wasn’t there, and reported his results.)

Tashkin’s team interviewed 1,212 cancer patients from the Los Angeles County Cancer Surveillance program, matched for age, gender, and neighborhood with 1,040 cancer-free controls. Marijuana use was measured in “joint years” (number of years smoked times number of joints per day).

It turned out that increased marijuana use did not result in higher rates of lung and pharyngeal cancer, whereas tobacco smokers were at greater risk the more they smoked. Tobacco smokers who also smoked marijuana were at slightly lower risk of getting lung cancer than tobacco-only smokers.

These findings were not deemed worthy of publication in “NIDA Notes.” Tashkin reported them at the 2005 meeting of the International Cannabinoid Research Society. They were published in the October 2006 issue of Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers & Prevention.

Without a press release from NIDA calling attention to its significance, the assignment editors of America had no idea that “Marijuana Use and the Risk of Lung and Upper Aerodigestive Tract Cancers: Results of a Population-Based Case-Control Study” by Mia Hashibe1, Hal Morgenstern, Yan Cui, Donald P. Tashkin, Zuo-Feng Zhang, Wendy Cozen, Thomas M. Mack and Sander Greenland was a blockbuster story.

I suggested to Eric Bailey of the L.A. Times that he write up Tashkin’s findings -- UCLA provided the local angle if the anti-cancer effect wasn’t enough. Bailey said his editors wouldn’t be interested for some time because he had just filed a marijuana-related piece. The Tashkin scoop is still there for the taking!

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Tashkin Defends His Findings

Investigators from New Zealand recently got widespread media attention for a study contradicting Tashkin’s results. “Heavy cannabis users may be at greater risk of chronic lung disease –including cancer– compared to tobacco smokers,” is how BBC News summed up the New Zealanders’ findings.

The very small size of the study –79 smokers took part, 21 of whom smoked cannabis only– was not held against the authors. In fact, the small New Zealand study was given much more coverage by the corporate press than the large UCLA study that preceded it.

The New Zealand study was portrayed as the latest word on this important subject. As if scientific inquiry were some kind of tennis match and the truth just gets truthier with every volley.

Tashkin criticized the New Zealanders’ methodology in his talk at Asilomar: “There’s some cognitive dissonance associated with the interpretation of their findings. I think this has to do with the belief model among the investigators and –I wish they were here to defend themselves– the integrity of the investigators… They actually published another paper in which they mimicked the design that we used for looking at lung function.”

Tashkin spoke from the stage of an airy redwood chapel designed by Julia Morgan. He is pink-cheeked, 70ish, wears wire-rimmed spectacles. “For tobacco they found what you’d expect: a higher risk for lung cancer and a clear dose-response relationship. A 24-fold increase in the people who smoked the most… What about marijuana? If they smoked a small or moderate amount there was no increased risk, in fact slightly less than one. But if they were in the upper third of the group, then their risk was six-fold… A rather surprising finding, and one has to be cautious about interpreting the results because of the very small number of cases -- fourteen— and controls  -- four.”

Tashkin said the New Zealanders employed “statistical sleight of hand.” He deemed it “completely implausible that smokers of only 365 joints of marijuana have a risk for developing lung cancer similar to that of smokers of 7,000 tobacco cigarettes… Their small sample size led to vastly inflated estimates… They had said ‘it’s ideal to do the study in New Zealand because we have a much higher prevalence of marijuana smoking.’ But 88 percent of their controls had never smoked marijuana, whereas 36% of our controls (in Los Angeles) had never smoked marijuana. Why did so few of the controls smoke marijuana? Something fishy about that!”

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Strong words for a UCLA School of Medicine professor!

As to the highly promising implication of his own study –that something in marijuana stops damaged cells from becoming malignant— Tashkin noted that an anti-proliferative effect of THC has been observed in cell-culture systems and animal models of brain, breast, prostate, and lung cancer. THC has been shown to promote apoptosis (damaged cells die instead of reproducing) and to counter angiogenesis (the process by which blood vessels are formed —a requirement of tumor growth). Other antioxidants in cannabis may also be involved in countering malignancy, said Tashkin.

COPD

Much of Tashkin’s talk was devoted to Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, another condition prevalent among tobacco smokers. Chronic bronchitis and emphysema are two forms of COPD, which is the fourth-leading cause of death in the United States. Air pollution and tobacco smoke are known culprits. Inhaled pathogens cause an inflammatory response, resulting in diminished lung function. COPD patients have increasing difficulty clearing the airways as they get older.

Tashkin and colleagues at UCLA conducted a major study in which they measured lung function of various cohorts over eight years and found that tobacco-only smokers had an accelerated rate of decline, but marijuana smokers –even if they smoked tobacco as well– experienced the same rate of decline as non-smokers.

“The more tobacco smoked, the greater the rate of decline,” said Tashkin. “In contrast, no matter how much marijuana was smoked, the rate of decline was similar to normal.”

Tashkin concluded that his and other studies “do not support the concept that regular smoking of marijuana leads to COPD.”

Breathe easier, everybody.

Fred Gardner is the editor of O'Shaughnessy's, a quarterly journal of the California Cannabis Research Medical Group.

Source: AlterNet.org - O'Shaughnessy's

Editor's note: There are millions of regular pot smokers in America and millions more infrequent smokers. Smoking pot clearly has far fewer dangerous and hazardous effects on society than legal drugs such as alcohol. Here is High Times's top 10 reasons that marijuana should be legal, part of its 420 Campaign legalization strategy.

10. Prohibition has failed to control the use and domestic production of marijuana. The government has tried to use criminal penalties to prevent marijuana use for over 75 years and yet: marijuana is now used by over 25 million people annually, cannabis is currently the largest cash crop in the United States, and marijuana is grown all over the planet. Claims that marijuana prohibition is a successful policy are ludicrous and unsupported by the facts, and the idea that marijuana will soon be eliminated from America and the rest of the world is a ridiculous fantasy.

9. Arrests for marijuana possession disproportionately affect blacks and Hispanics and reinforce the perception that law enforcement is biased and prejudiced against minorities. African-Americans account for approximately 13% of the population of the United States and about 13.5% of annual marijuana users, however, blacks also account for 26% of all marijuana arrests. Recent studies have demonstrated that blacks and Hispanics account for the majority of marijuana possession arrests in New York City, primarily for smoking marijuana in public view. Law enforcement has failed to demonstrate that marijuana laws can be enforced fairly without regard to race; far too often minorities are arrested for marijuana use while white/non-Hispanic Americans face a much lower risk of arrest.

8. A regulated, legal market in marijuana would reduce marijuana sales and use among teenagers, as well as reduce their exposure to other drugs in the illegal market. The illegality of marijuana makes it more valuable than if it were legal, providing opportunities for teenagers to make easy money selling it to their friends. If the excessive profits for marijuana sales were ended through legalization there would be less incentive for teens to sell it to one another. Teenage use of alcohol and tobacco remain serious public health problems even though those drugs are legal for adults, however, the availability of alcohol and tobacco is not made even more widespread by providing kids with economic incentives to sell either one to their friends and peers.

7. Legalized marijuana would reduce the flow of money from the American economy to international criminal gangs. Marijuana's illegality makes foreign cultivation and smuggling to the United States extremely profitable, sending billions of dollars overseas in an underground economy while diverting funds from productive economic development.

6. Marijuana's legalization would simplify the development of hemp as a valuable and diverse agricultural crop in the United States, including its development as a new bio-fuel to reduce carbon emissions. Canada and European countries have managed to support legal hemp cultivation without legalizing marijuana, but in the United States opposition to legal marijuana remains the biggest obstacle to development of industrial hemp as a valuable agricultural commodity. As US energy policy continues to embrace and promote the development of bio-fuels as an alternative to oil dependency and a way to reduce carbon emissions, it is all the more important to develop industrial hemp as a bio-fuel source - especially since use of hemp stalks as a fuel source will not increase demand and prices for food, such as corn. Legalization of marijuana will greatly simplify the regulatory burden on prospective hemp cultivation in the United States.

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Source: ALTERNET.ORG

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5. Prohibition is based on lies and disinformation. Justification of marijuana's illegality increasingly requires distortions and selective uses of the scientific record, causing harm to the credibility of teachers, law enforcement officials, and scientists throughout the country. The dangers of marijuana use have been exaggerated for almost a century and the modern scientific record does not support the reefer madness predictions of the past and present. Many claims of marijuana's danger are based on old 20th century prejudices that originated in a time when science was uncertain how marijuana produced its characteristic effects. Since the cannabinoid receptor system was discovered in the late 1980s these hysterical concerns about marijuana's dangerousness have not been confirmed with modern research. Everyone agrees that marijuana, or any other drug use such as alcohol or tobacco use, is not for children. Nonetheless, adults have demonstrated over the last several decades that marijuana can be used moderately without harmful impacts to the individual or society.

4. Marijuana is not a lethal drug and is safer than alcohol. It is established scientific fact that marijuana is not toxic to humans; marijuana overdoses are nearly impossible, and marijuana is not nearly as addictive as alcohol or tobacco. It is unfair and unjust to treat marijuana users more harshly under the law than the users of alcohol or tobacco.

3. Marijuana is too expensive for our justice system and should instead be taxed to support beneficial government programs. Law enforcement has more important responsibilities than arresting 750,000 individuals a year for marijuana possession, especially given the additional justice costs of disposing of each of these cases. Marijuana arrests make justice more expensive and less efficient in the United States, wasting jail space, clogging up court systems, and diverting time of police, attorneys, judges, and corrections officials away from violent crime, the sexual abuse of children, and terrorism. Furthermore, taxation of marijuana can provide needed and generous funding of many important criminal justice and social programs.

2. Marijuana use has positive attributes, such as its medical value and use as a recreational drug with relatively mild side effects. Many people use marijuana because they have made an informed decision that it is good for them, especially Americans suffering from a variety of serious ailments. Marijuana provides relief from pain, nausea, spasticity, and other symptoms for many individuals who have not been treated successfully with conventional medications. Many American adults prefer marijuana to the use of alcohol as a mild and moderate way to relax. Americans use marijuana because they choose to, and one of the reasons for that choice is their personal observation that the drug has a relatively low dependence liability and easy-to-manage side effects. Most marijuana users develop tolerance to many of marijuana's side effects, and those who do not, choose to stop using the drug. Marijuana use is the result of informed consent in which individuals have decided that the benefits of use outweigh the risks, especially since, for most Americans, the greatest risk of using marijuana is the relatively low risk of arrest.

1. Marijuana users are determined to stand up to the injustice of marijuana probation and accomplish legalization, no matter how long or what it takes to succeed. Despite the threat of arrests and a variety of other punishments and sanctions marijuana users have persisted in their support for legalization for over a generation. They refuse to give up their long quest for justice because they believe in the fundamental values of American society. Prohibition has failed to silence marijuana users despite its best attempts over the last generation. The issue of marijuana's legalization is a persistent issue that, like marijuana, will simply not go away. Marijuana will be legalized because marijuana users will continue to fight for it until they succeed.

Source: alternet.org

As a Systems Engineer working in the space industry, specifically with the United States Space Shuttle Program, I approach the Venus Project from a unique perspective. I have decided to use this first article as a chance to introduce myself to you, so that when I post articles in the future, you have an idea about the man behind the writing. I’ll also include information on a technical project I’m personally working on that you might be interested in.

For all intents and purposes, I am a technology, space and astrophysics geek, formally educated in Aerospace Engineering Technology and soon to be pursuing an advanced degree in either astrophysics or systems engineering, depending on what happens for me after the Space Shuttle Program ends.

I recently published a book about how vital space exploration and development is to mankind, called Turning Point, where the book is my funding source to travel and do public speaking on the topic (and also the Venus Project where possible). If the subject interests you, my book can be found here and can be internationally shipped:

http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/turningpoint/5492504

I’ve been on WebTV (Fox News), various web and standard radio shows, and have given several speeches on the subject to various groups. Additionally, I manage a blog where I discuss space advocacy, recent space news articles of importance, and my thoughts about how the Venus Project can positively affect not just the world, but our travels beyond it. The blog address is here:
http://thespaceadvocate.blogspot.com/

Some of you may be aware of the video I made called “Awakening”. If not, it can be found here on my Youtube Channel:
http://www.youtube.com/user/TZMSocialEvolution?feature=mhw5

I have also made a few other videos, like "Population to Convince" and my lecture to the Houston Humanist group. "Our Technical Reality” is more in tune with showcasing the science and technology standpoint.

As you can see, I am passionate about the success of the Venus Project, and my scientific and technical background allows me to bring more data, facts and science to the table, which in combination with my ability to do public speaking will hopefully allow me to address and spread the vision of the Venus Project to many people. And while many of us in the movement run on emotion and passion, I do to, that does not always work for convincing people of the necessity of our vision. So I hope that with my technical background, I can help bring others to the point where they see this new direction as possible, real and vital.

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It is my passion for space and what it can provide humanity that causes me to embrace the Venus Project as I do, for in my eyes it is the RBE that will catapult us from a species that mainly tinkers on the edge of our atmosphere into a serious space faring civilization, where the benefits can and do directly affect the people living on this glorious blue marble. The visions of the Venus Project would not be possible were it not for the advances in technology that are directly or indirectly attributable to space exploration, manned or robotic. It is the challenges of space that afford us the opportunity to think outside the box, or more specifically, off the Earth. Many of the challenges of space simply cannot be duplicated on Earth, and it is those challenges that drive innovation, like advanced recycling and reusability technologies, far more than any ludicrous notion that profit and money are the motivators.

For example, one of the biggest things we discuss is sustainability, not just of our energy systems, but of every product we make. Planned obsolescence, or at least the basic notion that products are made on the cheap so they fetch the most profit, is something that cannot go on, else our natural resources will be obliterated in just a few generations and humanity will suffer as a result. But let's focus on something I am personally working on, an automated hydroponic farm facility.

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This is a pretty straight forward concept and completely realistic in every manner. The sad part is that it’s just not being done. Instead of aid relief non-profits gathering money to buy food, thereby fattening the wallets of the food industry, they should be building sustainable food production systems for impoverished people so that we never have to worry about their food supply again! Alas, our current system doesn’t exactly want that, but we (The Venus Project) do, so this is something we should be trying to work on a global level. World hunger, solved by The Venus Project. I like the sound of that, not for selfish reasons, but because it’s the right thing to do, so why shouldn’t we be the ones doing it? So what would this system be made of?

1. Solar/Wind hybrid powered facility with substantial battery systems such that any climate condition throughout the year would not reduce the energy level of the facility below tolerance operating conditions.

2. Hermetically sealed building, with an atmosphere pressure and concentrations of Nitrogen and Oxygen set to the Paleozoic era, when plants thrived on the Earth as never before. It requires one to pass through a “clean room” before even being able to enter the growth facility, including wearing a “bunny suit” the likes of which is required for those who work in space industry clean rooms for satellites and space hardware.

3. Use the Omega Garden system, which I’ve already researched to be the best system that takes up the smallest footprint, but also delivers the most robust and strongest yields without using one drop of “plant altering” chemicals or pesticides. It’s kind of difficult to have pests in a hermetically sealed building.

4. Robotic planting and harvesting arms strategically placed in the facility.

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5. Delivery system: Basically a "Farmers Market” waist level train that brings the harvest to an adjacent building where the public can get the food right off the train carts. After a few days, whatever isn’t taken is returned and converted into mulch that can be used for outdoor facilities. Nothing is wasted.

6. Externally facing monitors in the building showing the interior of the facility, because the facility itself has no windows. Cameras in the facility can show the public what’s going on inside, to satisfy curiosity more than anything else, but also good for public awareness. Also, monitors would show the harvest cycle, what’s coming up next and when.

7. Each facility would grow 12 of the most healthy and popular vegetables, enough to feed 1,000 people per crop. After plenty of research, there is a good consensus on what those are: Spinach, Green Peas, Red Leaf Lettuce, Garlic, Onions, Carrots, Brocolli, Brussel Sprouts, Cauliflower, Tomatoes, Red Peppers and Green Peppers.

Currently I am researching cost and systems, as well as designing the informal blueprint of the facility in an Engineering CAD program. All of my information will be released as an official report for all chapters to access freely. You might have different companies, different prices for materials, and need a different design layout based on that, but the report will give you a great starting point.

I am not a know-it-all, but I do a vast amount of self study and research on the topics of science (including social sciences), space and technology (viable technology, not the latest video game or phone widget). I look forward to bringing this knowledge to the movement and to the project. Remember, you personally don’t have to convince the world. We are all working together, neighbor by neighbor, community by community. Those of us with the option of a larger platform should most definitely utilize it, but don’t let us detract you from the most vital aspect of any movement... your community is part of the world, get out in it and start talking!

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