Source: www.mercurynews.com Author: April Dembosky Joints and baggies sold at California's medical marijuana dispensaries will soon carry a new warning label. Next to tags like "Purple Haze" and "White Widow" will be the advisory: Contents may cause cancer when smoked. On Friday, California added marijuana smoke to its official list of known carcinogens, joining the ranks of arsenic, asbestos and DDT. Pot brownies, lollipops and other non-inhalables are not affected by the new ruling. Scientists found the pungent smoke shares many of the same harmful properties as tobacco smoke, warranting its inclusion on the Proposition 65 warning list. The law requires the state to publish a list of chemicals known to cause cancer or reproductive toxicity, and businesses and government agencies must post warnings when they use such chemicals or sell products containing them. "Marijuana smoke is a mixture of different chemicals, and a number of those were already on the Prop. 65 list," said Allan Hirsch, chief deputy director of the state Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, which made the designation. From a health perspective, pot advocates say the ruling was unsurprising, given the state's track record on documenting the harmful effects of all kinds of smoke inhalation. However, some are worried by its political implications as advocates attempt to legalize recreational use of marijuana. "I definitely have concerns about law enforcement and politicians who aren't in favor of medical marijuana or law reform, who would use this designation to further restrict access," said Allen St. Pierre, executive [...]