Can You Smoke Marijuana With a Tracheostomy?
Question by : Can you smoke marijuana with a Tracheostomy?
Well, just trying to find some info. My mom has had a Tracheostomy for 4 years or so because her oxygen levels were always low so now she’s able to breathe better but she’s interested in smoking marijuana to relieve her physical pain instead of using prescribed painkillers because our family has a history with addictions.
I just want to make sure it’d be Ok for her to smoke through a pipe or cigar wrap. And before I get “it’s a drug” comments, we live in California and medical marijuana is OK. I just want to make sure it won’t cause any harm to her or her Tracheostomy.
Best answer:
Answer by Metalplanttag
That is a bad idea, many people become addicted/dependent to Marijuana – there is a form that does not get one high and lacks THC.
What lung conditions is cannabis linked to?
The report says that although cannabis is the world’s most widely used illicit drug, there is surprisingly little research into its effects on lung health, with far less about the effects of cannabis smoke than tobacco smoke. However, it says there is now research showing that the active component, THC, can suppress the immune system and that cannabis smokers may be at risk of:
·respiratory problems such as chronic coughing, wheezing, sputum production, acute bronchitis, airway obstruction
·infective lung conditions such as tuberculosis and Legionnaire’s disease
·pneumothorax (collapsed lung)
·lung cancer – one study, which was widely quoted in the papers, suggested that smoking just one cannabis cigarette a day for one year increases the risk of developing lung cancer by a similar amount to smoking 20 tobacco cigarettes for the same period. It concluded that 5% of lung cancers in those aged 55 or under may be caused by smoking cannabis.
However, the report points out that there is a lack of conclusive evidence as to the possible effect that smoking cannabis has on lung function and the risk of developing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). There is evidence that smoking cannabis with tobacco leads to a greater risk of COPD than smoking tobacco alone.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/behindtheheadlines/news/2012-06-06-cannabis-lung-health-risks-underestimated/
“Marijuana smoking remains the second most widely smoked substance in the United States, with conservative estimates indicating that more than 11 million people smoked marijuana during the last month, and approximately 20% of these smoke almost daily. Marijuana smoke contains similar levels of tar as tobacco smoke and up to 50% more carcinogens. Marijuana users smoke unfiltered material, inhale the smoke more deeply, and hold the smoke longer than tobacco smokers, resulting in substantially greater tar deposits in the lungs than tobacco smokers. Reports from clinical samples suggest that marijuana smokers exhibit a range of chronic respiratory symptoms, although it is unclear whether these symptoms are representative of marijuana smokers as a whole. In addition, marijuana users have greater utilization of outpatient medical services for respiratory and other illnesses. Moreover, the histopathologic and molecular abnormalities observed in marijuana smokers are almost identical to that observed in tobacco smokers.1Cellular abnormalities include reductions in the number of ciliated epithelial cells lining the tracea and bronchi. These histopathologic alterations are associated with a range of potential lung disorders such as chronic bronchitis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and cancer. Although the extent of the problem remains unclear, the current literature of case reports and clinical samples suggests that marijuana-related respiratory problems may constitute a significant public health burden that could be prevented or treated by general internists.” – http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1525-1497.2004.40081.x/full
The smoke from marijuana, the second most
commonly smoked substance after tobacco, contains,
in addition to THC, a large number of toxic
gases and particulates (including high concentrations
of procarcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons)
that are capable of causing lung injury
and potentially respiratory malignancy. Whereas
THC produces short-term bronchodilation by relaxing
airway smooth muscle, heavy habitual use
of marijuana is associated with a number of adverse
pulmonary consequences (table 1). These include
1) symptoms of acute and chronic bronchitis,
2) conflicting findings concerning the presence
or absence of mild, progressive airflow obstruction,
3) endoscopic and microscopic evidence of
airway wall edema, vascular congestion and increased
mucous secretion, 4) extensive histopathologic
and immunohistochemical evidence of damage
and dysregulated growth of the tracheobronchial
epithelium, and 5) accumulation of increased
numbers of alveolar macrophages that
demonstrate impaired antimicrobial and tumoricidal
function and impaired ability to generate immunostimulatory
cytokines and inducible nitric
oxide synthase and nitric oxide, an important effector
molecule in microbial killing. These features
raise concern that marijuana smoking may be
a risk factor 1) for opportunistic infection, especially
in already immunocompromised patients
due to AIDS, organ transplanatation or cancer
chemotherapy, and 2) for upper and lower respiratory tract cancer. http://archest.fsm.it/pne/pdf/63/2/pne63-2_tashkin.pdf
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