SCIENCE / MEDICINE : The Side Effects of Marijuana

There is good news and bad news about marijuana. The good news, according to microbiologist Gerald Lancz of the University of South Florida in Tampa, is that the primary active component of marijuana, tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, can interfere with herpes viruses, such as those that cause genital herpes and some types of birth defects.

THC binds to the external membrane of the herpes viruses and prevents them from attaching to cells, so that the cells do not become infected. Lancz cautioned that smoking marijuana would probably not produce a high-enough concentration of THC in the blood to affect a herpes infection, but he predicted that the discovery might lead to new types of anti-herpes drugs.

In a separate study, however, microbiologists Steven Specter and Kirk Trisler of the University of South Florida found that THC suppresses the normal growth of disease-fighting white blood cells and disrupts their ability to kill tumor cells. “The findings suggest that people who smoke marijuana have the potential for altered cellular immunity, and their ability to fight infection and/or cancer may be suppressed,” Trisler said.