Impact of changes in regular use of marijuana and/or tobacco on chronic bronchitis

We sought to evaluate possible changes in the prevalence of chronic bronchitis in relation to continuing or changing smoking status for marijuana and/or tobacco. For this purpose we followed 299 participants in a longitudinal cohort study of the impact of heavy habitual use of marijuana alone or with tobacco on respiratory symptoms over a mean of 9.8 years during which subjects underwent repeated administration of a detailed drug use and respiratory questionnaire at intervals of ≥1 yr. Using logistic regression, we calculated odds ratios to assess the relationship between chronic bronchitic symptoms and smoking status for marijuana and tobacco at the first visit (current smoking versus never smoking) and at the last follow-up visit (continuing smoking versus, separately, never smoking and former smoking). We found that continuing smokers of either marijuana or tobacco had a significantly increased likelihood of having chronic bronchitis at follow-up compared to both never smokers and former smokers. On the other hand, former smokers of either substance were no more likely to have chronic respiratory symptoms at follow-up than never smokers. These findings demonstrate the benefit of marijuana smoking cessation in resolving pre-existing symptoms of chronic bronchitis.