TY - JOUR T1 - Respiratory symptoms associated with cannabis and tobacco use in a north Edinburgh primary care population JF - European Respiratory Journal JO - Eur Respir J VL - 38 IS - Suppl 55 SP - p4236 AU - Jim McKenzie AU - Lorraine Copeland AU - John MacLeod AU - Reid Peter Y1 - 2011/09/01 UR - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/38/Suppl_55/p4236.abstract N2 - Cannabis is usually inhaled and is most commonly taken in a joint containing both cannabis and tobacco. We are conducting a cross-sectional study of cannabis and tobacco smokers recruited from a primary care population in North Edinburgh. One aim of this study is to investigate whether cannabis smokers report a greater number of respiratory symptoms compared with an age and sex matched group of regular tobacco smokers. The quantification of cannabis and tobacco use is assessed by the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children and the reported respiratory symptoms by NHANES III.We have recruited 119 subjects (Group 1) who smoke tobacco as either branded cigarettes and/or roll-your-own tobacco cigarettes) and 117 subjects (Group 2) who smoke cannabis. Tobacco smokers are generally older median age men = 47 (range 24-73) and women 42.50 (range 22-63) than the cannabis smokers median age men 41 (range 22-63) and for women median 38.5 (range 22-58). The majority (>90%) of cannabis smokers employ unfiltered single skinned joints with 8% using bongs and a minority using other methods. The predominant form of cannabis used is resin (78%) with 22% smoking grass. Unadjusted data suggest that the prevalence of respiratory symptoms are greater at all ages and in both sexes for persons using cannabis and tobacco compared with persons using tobacco only. In North Edinburgh the majority of cannabis users smoke cannabis resin rolled with tobacco in a single skinned unfiltered joint. Respiratory symptoms typical of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease are more frequently reported by cannabis smokers than tobacco smokers and women report a greater number of symptoms than men. ER -