The British Lung Foundation (BLF) is a British charity that promotes lung health and supports those affected by lung disease. History The British Lung Foundation was established by Professor Sir Malcolm Green and a group of United Kingdom lung specialists in 1984. It has maintained strong links with the medical profession, as well as utilising the talents of people from all walks of life who share a determination to try to conquer lung disease in the 21st Century. Breathe Easy Breathe Easy is the support network of the British Lung Foundation. The network includes 150 support groups across the UK. Breathe Easy supports people through regular group meetings and offering help over the phone. There is also a pen-pal scheme, enabling people to make contact with others in the same situation. After a Breathe Easy campaign the Department of Health decided to undertake a complete review of the way oxygen is provided in England and Wales. Campaigns The British Lung Foundation campaigns for improvements in all areas of lung health. Breathe Easy supporters and members of the general public have worked with the BLF to ensure that these issues remain on the agenda at Westminster - and in the political chambers of Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. The BLF also campaigns to raise public awareness of lung disease and the impact it has on so many lives through poster campaigns, events and by maintaining a media profile. Controversy In June 2012 the British Lung Foundation released a report looking at the health impacts of smoking cannabis. (The report since appears to have been withdrawn.) In one section, the report claimed "each cannabis cigarette increases the chances of developing lung cancer by as much as an entire packet of 20 tobacco cigarettes", and the claim received prominence in launch interviews with the then chief executive, Dame Helena Shovelton. The report supported the claim by reference to a 2008 study, "Cannabis use and risk of lung cancer: a case-control study" (Aldington et al.), published in the European Respiratory Journal. That study had been challenged within the year and in the same journal, long before the BLF's claim. In a BBC radio interview on the day of the launch, Kevin Williamson, author of "Drugs and the Party line", said that there was "no scientific basis to the claim", citing an earlier study of 2200 people published in Cancer Epidemiological Biomarkers and Prevention that