Among all head and neck cancer cases,
we found a diagnosis of cannabis use disorder in 116,000 cases and found that people with a cannabis use disorder
were 2.5 times more likely to have oral cancer and 5 times more likely to have oropharyngeal cancer.
These findings were the same across all age groups,
and experts pointed to the smoke from smoking tobacco and cannabis as increasing the risk of cancer,
and warned that the combination of alcohol increases the risk.
The way cannabis is smoked is linked to cancer
They also noted that the way cannabis is smoked, with deep inhalation and lingering smoke in the throat,
and the cannabinoids present in cannabis have been linked to cancer. With the recent legalization of marijuana,
the expert said that marijuana use is likely to increase, which could lead to an increase in head and neck cancer diagnoses in the future.
Consistently communicate the dangers of cannabis use
To prevent this, people should continue to be informed of the risks of cannabis use and further research should be conducted to determine the link between cancer incidence and cannabis use.