“New research says smoking pot may be less likely to cause bladder cancer than smoking cigarettes.The finding is potentially valuable, the study authors said, given the ongoing debate over legalizing marijuana for medical purposes.
More frequent marijuana use — smoking pot more than 500 times — was associated with greater risk reduction than infrequent marijuana use — smoking once or twice, the researchers found.
Thomas said that while the study saw a link between smoking marijuana and lower bladder cancer risk, compared to tobacco smokers, it did not prove a cause-and-effect relationship. He couldn’t explain the link, but speculated on the possible mechanism.
“The theory is that there are receptors in the bladder that are affected by cannabis,” he said. The cannabinoids [compounds] in the marijuana may link with the cannabinoid receptors in the bladder and somehow protect against cell changes that can lead to cancer, he said.
A man’s lifetime risk of bladder cancer is almost 4 percent, according to the American Cancer Society. This means about one in 26 men will develop bladder tumors.”