Health Update: Highs and lows of dope smokers

JUST AS prospects seemed to be looking up for marijuana smokers, with legalisation looking increasingly likely, a study has indicated that it could weaken the body's immune system.

Researchers from the University of South Florida in Tampa found that giving mice tetrahydrocannabinol (the major component of marijuana) inhibited their resistance to the legionnaire's disease bug. Marijuana might have a similar effect in humans, they state in the Journal of Infectious Diseases.