Recent European data facilitate an epidemiological investigation of the controversial cannabis–cancer relationship. Of particular concern were prior findings associating high-dose cannabis use with reproductive problems and potential genetic impacts. Cancer incidence data age-standardised to the world population was obtained from the European Cancer Information System 2000–2020 and many European national cancer registries. Drug use data were obtained from the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction. Alcohol and tobacco consumption was sourced from the WHO. Median household income was taken from the World bank. Cancer rates in high-cannabis-use countries were significantly higher than elsewhere (β-estimate = 0.4165, p = 3.54 × 10−115). Eighteen of forty-one cancers (42,675 individual rates) were significantly associated with cannabis exposure at bivariate analysis. Twenty-five cancers were linked in inverse-probability-weighted multivariate models. Temporal lagging in panel models intensified these effects. In multivariable models, cannabis was a more powerful correlate of cancer incidence than tobacco or alcohol. Reproductive toxicity was evidenced by the involvement of testis, ovary, prostate and breast cancers and because some of the myeloid and lymphoid leukaemias implicated occur in childhood, indicating inherited intergenerational genotoxicity. Cannabis is a more important carcinogen than tobacco and alcohol and fulfills epidemiological qualitative and quantitative criteria for causality for 25/41 cancers. Reproductive and transgenerational effects are prominent. These findings confirm the clinical and epidemiological salience of cannabis as a major multigenerational community carcinogen.

More from our Archive

• DOI: 10.1039/d3ee00413a 2023

  Crystallization manipulation and holistic defect passivation toward stable and efficient inverted perovskite solar cells

  Cong Zhang, Haiyun Li, Cheng Gong, Qixin Zhuang, Jiangzhao Chen, Zhigang Zang

• DOI: 10.1039/d3ee01154b 2023

  Filling carbon: a microstructure-engineered hard carbon for efficient alkali metal ion storage

  Xiaoyang Chen, Nurbiye Sawut, Kean Chen, Hui Li, Jun Zhang, Zhe Wang, Mei Yang, Guo Tang, Xinping Ai, Hanxi Yang, Yongjin Fang, Yuliang Cao

• DOI: 10.3390/jox13030024 2023

  Cannabis- and Substance-Related Carcinogenesis in Europe: A Lagged Causal Inferential Panel Regression Study

  Albert Stuart Reece, Kellie Bennett, Gary Kenneth Hulse

• DOI: 10.1039/d3ee01226c 2023

  Engineering an atomic-level crystal lattice and electronic band structure for an extraordinarily high average thermoelectric figure of merit in n-type PbSe

  Bangzhi Ge, Hyungseok Lee, Jino Im, Youngsu Choi, Shin-Yeong Kim, Ji Yeong Lee, Sung-Pyo Cho, Yung-Eun Sung, Kwang-Yong Choi, Chongjian Zhou, Zhongqi Shi, In Chung

• DOI: 10.1039/d3gc00116d 2023

  Molten salt infiltration–oxidation synergistic controlled lithium extraction from spent lithium iron phosphate batteries: an efficient, acid free, and closed-loop strategy

  Jiafeng Zhang, Jingtian Zou, Di He, Wenyang Hu, Dezhao Peng, Yong Li, Zaowen Zhao, Shubin Wang, Pengfei Li, Shilin Su, Keyi Ma, Xiaowei Wang

• DOI: 10.1039/d3gc01892j 2023

  Recent progress in CO₂ conversion into organic chemicals by molecular catalysis

  Qing-Wen Song, Ran Ma, Ping Liu, Kan Zhang, Liang-Nian He

• DOI: 10.1039/d3gc01878d 2023

  From green to circular chemistry paved by biocatalysis

  Pedro Lozano, Eduardo García-Verdugo

• DOI: 10.1039/d3gc01673k 2023

  Stepwise recycling of valuable metals from spent lithium-ion batteries based on <i>in situ</i> thermal reduction and ultrasonic-assisted water leaching

  Wei Ding, Shenxu Bao, Yimin Zhang, Liuyi Ren, Chunfu Xin, Bo Chen, Bo Liu, Junhui Xiao, Xiaochuan Hou

• DOI: 10.1039/d3gc01750h 2023

  Metal-free, visible-light driven α-C(sp³)–H <i>gem</i>-difluoroallylation of glycine derivatives with trifluoromethyl alkenes and 1,3-enynes

  Zi-Hang Yuan, Hong Xin, Lu Zhang, Pin Gao, Xu Yang, Xin-Hua Duan, Li-Na Guo

• DOI: 10.1039/d3ee01362f 2023

  An immiscible phase-separation electrolyte and interface ion transfer electrochemistry enable zinc/lithium hybrid batteries with a 3.5 V-class operating voltage

  Ao Chen, Yaqin Zhang, Qing Li, Guojing Liang, Shuo Yang, Zhaodong Huang, Qi Yang, Hong Hu, Xinliang Li, Ze Chen, Jun Fan, Chunyi Zhi