Am I at risk from cancer due to carcinogen exposure?

When I was only somewhere between 14 and 17 years old, I was approached by a person that hated me at the time.  They asked me to smoke marijuana with them so I did.  Looking back on it I find it very strange they wanted to smoke marijuana with me seeing we hated each other.  I am afraid they laced the marjuana with a carcinogen, and I am going to get cancer from smoking the carcinogen laced marijuana.  I am 21 years old and still don't have cancer yet or any signs of it.  Am I in danger of getting cancer from this event?  If so how do I convince the police to investigate?  

[Indranil Ghosh, MD]

Dear mdhf123,

Thanks for posting your query.

Marijuana is not a carcinogen. The possibility that they laced the marijuana with a carcinogen is remote. Carcinogens that can be inhaled are usually found in tobacco.  But smoking tobacco a few times will not lead to cancer. It takes prolonged and repeated exposure to tobacco to develop a cancer.

Even if we assume it was some other carcinogen, a single exposure will not lead to cancer.

It is very reassuring that you are leading a healthy life. To protect your health, please refrain from smoking tobacco or marijuana, and totally avoid abusing any drugs.

You should put that incident behind you and look towards the future. It would be a futile effort to get the police to investigate this incident. There is no possible evidence that they would be able to retrieve.

Hope that this information helps and hope that you will get better soon.

Thank you for using MedHelp's "Ask an Expert" Service, where we feature some of world's renowned medical experts in their fields. Millions have benefitted from our service to get personalized advice for them and for their loved ones.

Best Regards,
Dr. Indranil Ghosh

[mdhf123]

Thank your for your well written response Dr.