Aug. 28, 2002 Tampa, FL (Aug. 27 2002) -- Marijuana may alter
immune function in people -- but the jury is still out on
whether it hurts or helps the body's ability to fight infection
or other diseases, report researchers at the University of South
Florida College of Medicine and the UCLA School of Medicine in
Los Angeles. "The bottom line is you cannot routinely smoke
marijuana without it affecting your immune system," said Thomas
Klein, PhD, professor of medical microbiology and immunology at
USF. "However, because of the complexity of the immune system,
we can't say yet whether the effect we've observed in humans is
good or bad." A study by USF and UCLA is the first to show that
healthy humans who smoke marijuana appear to alter the
expression of marijuana receptors, or molecules, on immune cells
in their blood. The findings were reported in the June issue of
the Journal of Neuroimmunology. Pot's influence on the immune
system continues to be hotly debated. While more human studies
are needed, overwhelming