Source: San Jose Mercury News, 6/19/09
The State of California has added marijuana smoke to its official list of known carcinogens, joining the ranks of arsenic, asbestos and DDT. The ruling comes after scientists at the Office of Environmental Health Hazards Assessment reviewed an extensive body of research finding that marijuana smoke had many of the same harmful properties as tobacco smoke and similar links to cancer.
As part of Proposition 65, the state will now add marijuana smoke to a published list of chemicals known to cause cancer or reproductive toxicity. Furthermore, businesses and government agencies must post warnings when they use such chemicals or sell products containing them. As a result, medical marijuana dispensaries with 10 employees will be required to post a warning either in their shop or place warning labels on the products themselves starting in June 2010.
"Marijuana smoke is a mixture of different chemicals, and a number of those were already on the Prop. 65 list." said Allan Hirsch, chief deputy director of the state Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, which made the designation.
The ruling panel did not consider studies showing medical benefits of marijuana and seems unlikely to put to bed a growing debate on how best to address the drug.
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