What’s More Harmful—Pot or Tobacco?

Recreational use of marijuana—smoking a joint once or twice a week—evidently causes no harm to the lungs, a 20-year study suggests, shedding new light on a key finding from less long-term research: Both marijuana and tobacco contain the same toxic chemicals, but lung disease is more likely to result from consuming tobacco than smoking pot occasionally.

A January 10 Associated Press report of the study—which was conducted by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, and the University of Alabama at Birmingham—was made available Tuesday night to members and attendees at the year’s first board meeting of the at the .

You may read the full AP article by clicking this link.

Circulating copies of the AP report at the monthly ERNC meeting was Tim Ryder, a veteran Eagle Rocker who heads Cannabis Clubs United With the Community, a group devoted to the safe distribution of medical marijuana in the neighborhood.

During the “public comments” period that preceded the board’s discussion of “agenda” items, Ryder challenged assertions made by a stakeholder, Corbett Rousey, during last month’s meeting that the presence of marijuana dispensaries results in increased crime.

ERNC board member and Sub-District 4 Director Peter Hilton countered that a lot of crime associated with medical marijuana facilities tends to go unreported—and that relying on statistics alone is not the best way to deal with the issue.

Hilton, who is Rousey’s partner in an Eagle Rock-based security firm, Los Angeles Loss Prevention Investigations, said he regularly watches customers of a medical marijuana dispensary opposite the street from his office smoke dope in public—and then drive off.

Many customers also resell the marijuana they buy to people outside the dispensaries, Hilton said, reaffirming a point that Rousey made in December’s ERNC meeting.

Correction: An earlier version of this article mistakenly referred to Tim Ryder's organization as "Cannabis Collective United With the Community." The organization's correct name is "Cannabis Clubs United With the Community."