Smokers everywhere can rejoice (or keep smoking), as a two-decade study has shown that occasional marijuana indulgence doesn't harm your lungs. The study, funded by the National Institute for Drug Abuse and published in the Journal of the American Medical Association lets us know that the same thing that was true forty years ago remains true today.

Data was gathered from over 5,000 subjects of both genders in four U.S. cities who admitted to being regular smokers. Roughly 37% of the participants said they smoked weed regularly, i.e. about 2-3 times per month.

To this day, scientists are still unclear of why marijuana doesn't damage the lungs. In an interview with the Associated Press, Dr. Donald Tashkin explained that THC (the x-factor in cannabis) helped fight inflammation. Therefore, it's possible that THC combats the irritants found in the drug.

An alternative theory is that the deep breaths that smokers take as they inhale is actually an exercise that strengthens lung tissue. With that said, we can't help but wonder how many smokers are working their lungs out as they read this.

Lastly, since it apparently doesn't harm your lungs and half of America thinks it should be legal anyway, the Reeferlutionary Movement will forge on in its quest for legalization of vegetation.

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[via Gothamist and JAMA]

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