Smoking a joint like smoking 5 cigarettes
Researchers from New Zealand say those who smoke pot complain of wheezing, coughing and a tightening of the chest as a result of damaging the small, fine airways in the lungs.
The story from Reuters says:
The study found only those who smoked tobacco suffered from the crippling lung disease emphysema, but cannabis use stopped the lungs working properly."The extent of this damage was directly related to the number of joints smoked, with higher consumption linked to greater incapacity," said the authors of the report published in the medical journal Thorax.
"The effect on the lungs of each joint was equivalent to smoking between 2.5 and five cigarettes in one go."