Alright, guys. We all know marijuana and tobacco have had an incredibly huge impact on the world. Neither will ever be eliminated, and any issues about the effects each drug has on a person will never cease to be debated. Lately, the legalization of weed has been intensely discussed by nearly everybody, thus providing countless amounts of opposing views. Personally, I always wonder why cigarettes are legal when they do more damage than pot. One day, I brought it up over a Facebook status: "Weed harms you less than cigarettes do, and yet, which one is legal? Hmm..." I received 3 comments:
"Ac
tually it's 6 times worse for your lungs. But in other ways I guess it's not bad? I don't know - but 6 times worse for your lungs sounds pretty bad to me."
"Y
eah, isn't weed like smoking a few packs of cigarettes? I thought we learned that in health."
"
Smoking clean marijuana once in a while is about as harmful as...smoking any type of herb really. It was originally meant as a meditative aid, not a recreational drug. The anti-weed propaganda is insane."
Of course, the first two comments struck me by surprise.
I've never heard these points before, and they provide me no references to back up their information. (The third comment also doesn't provide a source, but I have already seen plenty of information regarding that information being true.) Also, I certainly don't recall having ever been taught any comparison between cigarettes and pot in high school. Even if we had learned about this before and I just flat out don't remember, I doubt that our school's half-semester health class had enough time to focus on illegal drugs.
These comments inspired me to do the dirty work myself, and find out the truth about which drug is healthier. In the end, when I collect enough information to give a very educated answer, I will most likely record a video and post it anywhere I can.
I began some research prior to writing this entry, when I realized just how difficult it is to get cold hard facts. Everything seems to be so biased. Many people find marijuana users to be criminals; many other people find weed to be totally harmless.
This is why I need your guys' help!If you know of any good sources regarding this issue, send them my way! Even if you have information without a source, go ahead and tell me about it. I'll take those points into consideration and further research them.
So which one is healthier for you: marijuana or tobacco? Help me reach my goal in finding a good, unbiased answer to this highly debated question, please!!! :)
Recommend
Comments (168)
Well weed smoke may be more harmful, but you don't smoke 20 joints a day. A lot of people smoke a pack of ciggerettes a day. And ciggerettes have tar and chemicals in them which I'm sure weed doesn't.
Check out the links on this site, I believe there are links to unbiased articles. It really is difficult to find cold hard facts on the effects of marijuana, because it seems as if every article on the topic tries to support their point of view on the subject.
http://forum.grasscity.com/medical-marijuana/55562-informative-medical-marijuana-links.html
I smoke pot myself, but not cigarettes. I don't personally know anyone who's gotten cancer or any other medical condition from smoking just pot and nothing else, but I know a lot of people who suffer and have died from a variety of conditions caused by smoking just cigarettes. Not sure if that says something, ha.
While they both have their pros and cons, marijuana is healthier- it's what you roll it in that causes the harm to your body when you smoke it.
Well, they're both drugs and exaggerated use of either can be detrimental; however, I agree that the negative effects of marijuana are hyped up maybe even made up. With all the chemicals and tar and shit in cigarettes? Oh, hale naw. Plus, I heard that cigarettes also have bacteria or something. Like the actual tobacco. O_O
This post is beyond stupid. Both are damaging, what idiot lights up either one, breathes in smoke and thinks they are going to be healthy? This question can be asked another way "rat poison or snail poison which would you rather eat?" If you want to breathe in smoke, go stick your head in a fireplace and inhale, at least then you already own the wood.
I heard weed stimulates the creative side of your brain
Here are some things I know:
1. Cigarettes have nicotene making them more addictive than marijuana. While you can get addicted to pot, I believe that is more of a mental addiction rather than a physical addiction.
2. Cigarettes have tar which builds up in your lungs. Marijuana does not.
I don't smoke either (or any at all) but marijuana is less detrimental than cigarettes. As for legality, that's an easy one. The tobacco industries already rake in so much money from selling their products. They hold a huge chunk of the economy -- do you think the government will ban the industries any time soon? ... I doubt it.
Copying my comment from the original post:
http://www.drugpolicy.org/marijuana/factsmyths/
Also, proof that it could have positive health benefits: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/28584.php
I've
read somewhere that people who smoke marijuana are 10% LESS likely than
non-smokers (no tobacco or pot) to get lung cancer but can't find the
source.
Also, check out Slate.com to find a story by a woman who uses marijuana to treat her son's autism.
Cigarettes are much worse for you, no doubt.
I personally believe teenagers and young adults should be prescribed pot over anti-depressants.
@ProudToBeAChristianFruitcake@xanga - To be fair, doctors will prescribe marijuana for medical reasons, so apparently some think it could be good for your health. The same is not true of cigarettes.
@ProudToBeAChristianFruitcake@xanga - You probably think it's stupid because you completely missed the point. Nobody is saying either one is 100% healthy. The question is which on is healthiER.
I think smoking pot is harder on the lungs, but not as unhealthy as smoking cigarettes. I've never heard of potheads coughing up tar. The only thing I've really heard and believe about marijuana is that if you smoke it often enough, and too much of it, it will cause some kind of brain damage. But in moderation, I think it's probably fine.
@whitetrashpoet@xanga - Not true. My parents had a friend who was born with a heart defect, the doctor would prescribe nicotine in either pill or in a cigarette, and it would help to regulate his heart rate. My parent's friend was happy when the quit smoking patch came out, as he could simply wear the patch, instead of having to smoke.
@ProudToBeAChristianFruitcake@xanga - Hey, fuck off, jackass. If this entry is so stupid, why the fuck are you taking time out of your life to comment it? I'm FULLY aware that both are harmful. I've NEVER smoked ANYTHING in my life. In fact, I'm COMPLETELY AGAINST smoking!
@disturbingenigma@xanga - thank you. some people are missing the point of the entry... and they have no idea how much I hate smoking of any kind. and how much I'm not a dumbass and know that both aren't healthy.
pot is probably less damaging, but in a perfect world we would use neither.
@ProudToBeAChristianFruitcake@xanga - Fair enough - but the nicotine was the key, not tobacco specifically, and obviously a doctor would prefer the patient to receive nicotine through some other means than cigarette smoking - but I see your point.
@ProudToBeAChristianFruitcake@xanga - the post wasn't asking which one was healthy, it was asking which one was worse than the other.
I've read from various sources, both NORML and anti-marijuana sites, that smoking a joint is worse for your lungs than smoking one cigarette. However, as NORML pointed out, people aren't usually smoking 20+ joints a day.
I think most people know it's bad for you; I agree. But I still say that it's way better than alcohol, and way less addictive. And I think the benefits of weed in many situations outweigh the negative. Like, if it makes someone happy, or, obviously, if it's used for medical reasons, like cancer. People seem to overlook that you can vaporize weed, too.
Cigarettes are worse. No doubt about it. Marijuana should be legalized and regulated.
Hell, excessive alcohol consumption is worse for you than smoking weed.
Cigarettes are by far more unhealthy as well as more addictive..physically and mentally. The chemicals added to cigs are terrible for your health.. like ammonia and formaldehyde. You don't see people carrying around oxygen tanks and talking out of their necks bc they smoked too much marijuana. Marijuana for the most part if very pure, nothing added. Just the plant. I'm not saying it's healthy bc I was once a huge stoner and coughed up black stuff every day & I never smoked any cigs. Marijuana does have tar, why do you think people scrape their bowls/bongs after a lot of use? But if I were to choose, I would rather smoke weed then inhale the chemicals that are added to cigarettes.
Also arsenic and hydrogen cyanide are added to cigarettes.
Weed has no nicotine, so it's not physically addictive the way cigarettes are. However, when you roll a joint, there's no filter, so just as much harmful smoke & tar get into your lungs as when you smoke a cigarette, if not more. On the other hand, people don't smoke marijuana as often as they smoke cigarettes.
both stink. I'm against both. if they want to relax, just masturabate Lol it is free and safe and great
don't take my word for it.
Well, the debate shouldn't center around which is worst for you. I mean, I consider myself a light smoker, I smoke a few cigarettes per day, like four or five, which means I smoke about a pack and a half of cigarettes per week, which is probably down from how much I used to smoke. And then there is the pot question, but, if it's really good pot, you probably won't smoke as much, or that's the theory anyway, the better the pot, the better the high which leads a lot of people to smoke a lot of pot. Pot and cigarettes both have therapeutic qualities, and both are relatively harmless, I mean if you smoke a pack a day, or smoke while your pregnant then you're really playing with your life and the lives of others, though I'm ok with both.
Weed is only harmful to your lungs if you do choose to smoke it. There are many other ways to consume weed too, such as, baking it into food, or brewing a tea out of it. Otherwise, yeah, when you smoke weed, you don't smoke several joints a day, you probably only smoke one, or at the most, two. Cigarettes tend to be smoked at much higher volumes (not to mention the chemicals embedded within those).
my friend did a research paper on it and her conclusion was that weed isn't as detrimental as cigarettes are.
I used to smoke both. I remember when I'd smoke cigarettes I'd get a terrible cough and I'd feel like this physically.
When I quit cigarettes and went to weed it felt cleaner. I dont know. I didn't get a bad cough and I could still run and stuff. I also felt better, but that could have just been the high?
Also, doctors prescribe it. I know they've been known to prescribe things that aren't healthy [like when they used to prescribe coke] but they've researched marijuana deeply, and the only thing I've found is an incrased risk in prostate cancer and if you've had bronchitis it can agitate it into flaring up again, but that's just due to smoke.. and the heat, it can hurt your throat.
and I'm a woman, so why do I care about prostate cancer?