Key points from article :
People who smoke cannabis describe themselves as non-smokers.
Cannabis users may not appreciate that smoking the drug carries many of the same health risks as smoking tobacco.
There may be around 1.2 million weekly cannabis smokers in Britain.
“People may be unwittingly establishing a tobacco addiction with cannabis,” - Hannah Walsh, author
Cannabis users who mix the drug with tobacco will use about 0.35g of tobacco per joint.
Mixing cannabis and tobacco produces more negative acute cardiovascular effects and is associated with chronic bronchitis.
“Addiction Strategy must include measures to tackle the overlapping use of cannabis and tobacco” - Hazel Cheeseman, director of policy.
Seven out of 10 of people who had taken the drug in the past year were under 39 years old.
Cannabis and tobacco together were more likely to report mental health problems.
Study by King’s College London published in the journal Addiction.
