You may have read this week that a new "20-year research study" on marijuana use "finally demolishes claims that smoking marijuana is harmless," and has found that it "makes you stupid," that "smoking marijuana over the long-term can develop cancer" [SIC], and that marijuana is "as addictive as heroin." At least, that's what you'd conclude if you'd read most media coverage of the study. But if you'd actually read the study yourself (which I highly recommend!), you'd likely walk away with very different conclusions.
The paper in question is a review of 20 years of existing research into the health effects of marijuana use. By design, it doesn't tell us anything we don't already know. The focus is almost exclusively on the effects of long-term heavy (daily or near-daily) marijuana use: "this paper deals with the adverse effects of cannabis smoking, especially the adverse health effects of regular, typically daily, cannabis smoking," the author, Wayne Hall, a drug adviser to the World Health Organization, writes.
