Health.com: Is long-term marijuana use bad for the lungs?
UC expert says studies show marijuana lung damage similar to tobacco
Willie Nelson's relationship with marijuana has been well-documented over the years, but the singing legend recently revealed that he has stopped smoking pot out of concern of the damage it has done to his lungs.
“I have abused my lungs quite a bit in the past, so breathing is a little more difficult these days and I have to be careful," Nelson told San Antonio TV station KSAT.
In a story on this in Health.com, Dr. Alejandro Aragaki of the UC College of Medicine says that studies show the damage done by marijuana to the lungs is similar to the damage done by smoking tobacco.
Additional Contacts
Related Stories
Study: Additional radiation for liver cancer does not increase toxicity
March 10, 2026
New research led by University of Cincinnati Cancer Center researchers published in the American Journal of Clinical Oncology found external beam radiation therapy (EBRT) is safe to administer to patients with liver cancer even after they undergo a targeted internal radiation therapy called Y90.
Is uACR the key to cardiovascular and kidney disease prevention?
March 8, 2026
As a precision biomarker, the urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio (uACR) can guide physicians toward personalized, patient-centered prevention and treatment of both cardiovascular disease (CVD) and chronic kidney disease (CKD), according to new data published in the Journal of Internal Medicine.
Driven by her own pain
March 8, 2026
Endometriosis is a painful and often debilitating disease that affects an estimated 6.5 million women in the U.S. It occurs when tissue similar to the lining of the uterus grows outside of it, causing pain, inflammation and sometimes infertility. Now a University of Cincinnati College of Medicine researcher is developing what is believed to be the first at-home diagnostic test.