Pubdate: Mon, 26 Nov 2007 Source: Press, The (York, UK) Copyright: 2007 Newsquest Media Group Contact: http://www.yorkpress.co.uk Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3111 Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07/n1340/a09.html Author: Howard J Wooldridge NICE TRY MR JONES AS A retired police detective, I am not qualified to address if cannabis smoking causes lung cancer. However, doctors at the University of California in Los Angeles working under a federal grant, examined people who have smoked every day for 30 and 40 years. They discovered that these massive smokers of cannabis have the same lung cancer rates as non-smokers. The analysis was that cannabis also contains something which acts to protect the lungs from lung cancer. Nice try, Aled Jones, to demonise cannabis, but that dog won't hunt. Cannabis is a bad choice; it is a mind-altering and addictive drug, but its proven drawbacks are a puppy compared with the use of alcohol. Howard J Wooldridge, Araby Church Road, Frederick, Maryland, USA.