Study finds cannabis is genotoxic and carries cancer risk

The use of cannabis, which is now legal in many countries and is becoming increasingly popular, causes cell damage that increases the risk of extremely malignant tumors, according to a new paper published in the scientific journal Addiction Biology. The paper calls cannabis a “genotoxic” substance because it damages a cell’s genetic information, which can lead to DNA mutations, accelerated aging and cancer. What’s worse, this genotoxicity can be passed on through damaged oocytes and sperm to the offspring of the cannabis user, making the risk of cannabis use transferable from generation to generation.

Historically, the link between cancers and cannabis has been controversial. Differences in the results of published studies may be due to a variety of factors, including multiple exposures (including tobacco), differences in study design and the rapid growth in the popularity of cannabis.

In a recent publication in the journal Addiction Biology, researchers from the University of Western Australia made a link between the known fact that cannabis use harms cellular energy production by suppressing mitochondrial function and new cancer research published in the journal Science, which showed that disruption of mitochondria leads to chromosome damage, which manifests itself in increased cancer, autism, accelerated aging, and birth defects.

The Science study was not conducted in the context of cannabis use, but it provides mechanistic insight into some observations related to cannabis use that have not previously been well understood, such as that cannabis causes both mitochondrial and genetic damage. Taken together, the paper in Addiction Biology puts old historical research on cannabis into context and suggests that cannabis-related genotoxic damage may be all around us, even if we hardly notice it.

Co-author Dr. Stuart Reece commented, “The link we have described between cannabis use and genotoxicity has a very broad perspective. This new study shows how genetic damage from cannabis use can be passed from generation to generation. This should move the debate on cannabis legalization from one of personal choice to one that potentially affects several generations to come.”