"Smoke is smoke. Both tobacco and marijuana smoke impair blood vessel role similarly. People should avert both, and governments who are protecting people against secondhand smoke exposure should include marijuana in those rules."
-Matthew Springer, cardiovascular researcher and Associate Professor of Medicine, Academy of California, San Francisco

Facts about secondhand marijuana smoke:

  • Marijuana smoke is created by burning components of plants in the genus Cannabis.
  • Secondhand marijuana smoke is a complex chemical mixture of smoke emitted from combusted marijuana and the fume that is exhaled by the user.
  • Secondhand marijuana fume contains fine particulate matter that can exist breathed deeply into the lungs.
  • Secondhand marijuana smoke contains many of the same cancer-causing substances and toxic chemicals as secondhand tobacco smoke. Some of the known carcinogens or toxins present in marijuana smoke include: acetaldehyde, ammonia arsenic, benzene, cadmium, chromium, formaldehyde, hydrogen cyanide, isoprene, lead, mercury, nickel, and quinoline.i
  • Marijuana smoke contains tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the active chemical in cannabis.

Health risks of exposure to secondhand marijuana smoke:

Since marijuana is illegal under federal law, there have been a limited number of studies examining health risks associated with marijuana use and exposure in the United States. Wellness risks from primary and secondhand smoke exposure may also be difficult to determine as marijuana is ofttimes used in combination with tobacco.

Even so, peer-reviewed and published studies practice indicate that exposure to secondhand marijuana smoke may have health and safety risks for the general public, especially due to its similar composition to secondhand tobacco fume.

  • Secondhand smoke from combusted marijuana contains fine particulate matter that tin exist breathed deeply into the lungs,two which tin can cause lung irritation, asthma attacks, and makes respiratory infections more likely. Exposure to fine particulate thing can exacerbate health bug especially for people with respiratory conditions like asthma, bronchitis, or COPD.iii
  • Particulate levels from secondhand marijuana smoke are even higher than particulate levels from secondhand tobacco smoke. A study comparing indoor particulate matter ii.5 (PM2.5) levels from secondhand marijuana smoke and secondhand tobacco fume concluded that "the average PM2.v emission rate of the pre-rolled marijuana joints was found to exist three.5 times the average emission rate of Marlboro tobacco cigarettes, the most pop US cigarette make." Smoking a marijuana joint indoors tin can produce extremely high indoor PM2.5 concentrations, thereby exposing the public and workers to unsafe secondhand marijuana smoke emissions.iv
  • On-site consumption of cannabis using electric vaporizers, vape pens, and dab rigs produces a chemical aerosol that pollutes indoor air to unhealthy levels. This diminished air quality was observed when marijuana was not beingness combusted on-site. Researchers measured high levels of PM2.5 inside a marijuana retailer that allowed vaporizing, dabbing, and vaping marijuana – but did not let smoking of marijuana or tobacco.v
  • Significant amounts of mercury, cadmium, nickel, pb, hydrogen cyanide, and chromium, as well as 3 times the amount of ammonia, are found in mainstream marijuana smoke than is in tobacco fume.half-dozen
  • In 2009, the California Office of Environmental Health Take chances Assessment added marijuana smoke to its Proposition 65 listing of carcinogens and reproductive toxins, also known as the Safety Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Human activity of 1986. Information technology reported that at least 33 individual constituents nowadays in both marijuana smoke and tobacco fume are Proposition 65 carcinogens.vii, viii
  • Secondhand smoke from marijuana has many of the same chemicals as smoke from tobacco, including those linked to lung cancer.9
  • Secondhand marijuana exposure impairs claret vessel part. Published studies on rats show that thirty minutes of exposure to secondhand marijuana smoke at levels comparable to those found in restaurants that allow cigarette smoking led to substantial impairment of claret vessel function. Marijuana fume exposure had a greater and longer-lasting effect on blood vessel function than exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke.x
  • One minute of exposure to marijuana SHS essentially impairs endothelial part in rats for at least ninety minutes, considerably longer than comparable impairment by tobacco SHS. The findings in rats suggest that SHS tin can exert similar adverse cardiovascular effects regardless of whether it is from tobacco or marijuana.eleven
  • Secondhand marijuana smoke and secondhand tobacco smoke is similar in many ways. More research is needed, just the current body of science shows that both tobacco and marijuana smoke accept like chemical composition and suggests that they may have harmful cardiovascular health effects, such equally atherosclerosis (partially blocked arteries), heart attack, and stroke.xii
  • Particle concentrations from dabbing and vaporizing cannabis can create levels of indoor air pollution similar every bit those seen in extreme air pollution events similar wildfires and severe industrial pollution. Exposure at these concentrations tin can cause cardiovascular and respiratory disease.xiii
  • People who are exposed to secondhand marijuana smoke can take detectable levels of THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) in their blood and urine.xiv
  • Marijuana also tin can be contaminated with mold, insecticides or other chemicals that may be released in secondhand smoke.15

Including Marijuana Smoking in Smokefree Public Place and Workplace Laws:

  • Anybody has the right to breathe smokefree air. Smokefree policies are designed to protect the public and all workers from exposure to the wellness hazards caused by exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke. The same should be true for secondhand marijuana smoke.
  • The pct of U.S. adults who use marijuana more than than doubled from 4.1% to 9.5% between 2001-2002 and 2012-2013,xvi which may also bespeak an increment in exposure to secondhand marijuana fume.
  • The American Social club for Heating, Refrigeration, and Air Conditioning Engineering (ASHRAE) is the organisation that develops engineering standards for building ventilation systems. ASHRAE at present bases its ventilation standard for acceptable indoor air quality on an environment that is completely costless from secondhand tobacco smoke, secondhand marijuana fume, and emissions from electronic smoking devices.xvii
  • In order to protect public health, improve consistency, and aid enforcement, smokefree laws for public places and workplaces should include tobacco as well as marijuana, whether it is smoked or aerosolized. Allowing marijuana smoking in places where smoking is now prohibited could undermine laws that protect the public from exposure to secondhand smoke. The Tobacco Control Legal Consortium issued an informative cursory on Lessons from Tobacco Control for Marijuana Regulation.xviii
  • Smokefree policies provide incentives to quit smoking, help denormalize smoking beliefs, and are particularly constructive among youth and immature adults who are vulnerable to visual cues and social norms of smoking. It is likely that smokefree policies for marijuana will have a like effect.
  • As of February, 2022, 825 localities and 34 states/territories/commonwealths restrict marijuana use in some or all smokefree spaces. Of these, 443 localities and twenty states/territories/commonwealths prohibit smoking and vaping of recreational and medical marijuana in i or more than of the post-obit venues: non-hospitality workplaces, restaurants, bars, and/or gambling facilities.

In the interest of public wellness, the use of combustible or aerosolized marijuana should be prohibited wherever tobacco smoking is prohibited.

ANR Foundation'due south Position on Exposure to Secondhand Marijuana Smoke:

Marijuana smoke is a grade of indoor air pollution. Therefore, ANR, our lobbying organization, includes marijuana within the definition of smoking, and all of our model laws and policies include a prohibition on smoking marijuana wherever smoking of tobacco products is not immune. Our system does not have a position on whether marijuana should be legalized; we are committed to smokefree protections from secondhand smoke from tobacco products, marijuana and aerosol from electronic smoking devices.

Nobody should have to exhale secondhand marijuana fume at work, in public, or where they alive. If we desire salubrious, smokefree air for workers and the public, and so products like marijuana and electronic smoking devices (which can exist used to "vape" a broad range of substances, including marijuana and hash oil) must not exist used in smokefree environments where others are forced to breathe the secondhand emissions.

In the involvement of public health, the use of combustible or aerosolized marijuana should be prohibited wherever tobacco smoking is prohibited.

ANR Foundation'south Position on Exposure to Secondhand Marijuana Smoke:

Marijuana fume is a form of indoor air pollution. Therefore, ANRF includes marijuana within our definition of smoking, and all of our model laws and policies include a prohibition on smoking marijuana wherever smoking of tobacco products is not allowed. ANRF does not take a position on whether marijuana should exist legalized; however ANRF is against smoking in ways that harm other people. In states where marijuana is legalized, marijuana employ should be prohibited in all smokefree spaces.

Nobody should take to breathe secondhand marijuana smoke at work, in public, or where they live. If nosotros want healthy, smokefree air for workers and the public, then products like marijuana and electronic smoking devices (which tin can exist used to "vape" a broad range of substances, including marijuana and hash oil) must not be used in smokefree environments where others are forced to breathe the secondhand emissions.

May be reprinted with appropriate credit to the American Nonsmokers' Rights Foundation.
Copyright 2022 American Nonsmokers' Rights Foundation. All rights reserved.a

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