Thread: Cigarettes vs. Marijuana

I'd like to know which is worse for the body, smoking cigarettes or marijuana? I'd also like to know how the side-effects differ.

Marijuana; higher rates of lung cancers and is related to psychiatric conditions; there are plenty of papers to back this up many of which compare marijuana to tobacco.

Hi,
Smoking marijuana is far more dangerous than smoking cigarettes.The researchers found that smoking one joint is equivalent to 20 cigarettes in terms of lung cancer.While studies in the past have shown that marijuana can cause cancer, few have actually established a strong link between marijuana use and the actual incidence of lung cancer.

Marijuana is far safer in all aspects, as many studies confirm and re-confirm. The old propaganda of the 1970s has been shown false.

Thanks, I did't know this "Marijuana; higher rates of lung cancers and is related to psychiatric conditions; there are plenty of papers to back this up many of which compare marijuana to tobacco.", but what are these "papers to back this up"?

Anything you smoke will increase cancer incidence... even standing beside a barbecue grill will make you slightly more prone to cancer than someone who does not. I believe the above referenced study is this one about marijuana having higher cancer incidence than tobacco:

http://www.webmd.com/cancer/news/200...nked-to-cancer

Smoking pot causes cell damage that could make a person more likely to develop cancer, researchers report.

Scientists at the University of Leicester have discovered that marijuana (cannabis) smoke alters DNA, the genetic material located in cells of the human body. Some forms of DNA damage can lead to cancer.

Many studies have shown that tobacco smoke damages DNA in a way that boosts risk for lung and other cancers, but until now, it's been unclear whether cannabis smoke could do the same. Of particular concern is a cancer-causing chemical called acetaldehyde, which is found in both tobacco and marijuana smoke. Using new chemistry techniques, study researchers showed that the chemical, when present in marijuana smoke, caused DNA damage in a laboratory setting.

The discovery suggests that marijuana smoke may be as harmful, or perhaps even more toxic, than tobacco smoke. In fact, study researchers say that smoking three to four marijuana cigarettes a day causes as much airway damage as smoking 20 or more cigarettes a day.

"These results provide evidence for the DNA-damaging potential of cannabis smoke," the researchers write, "implying that the consumption of cannabis cigarettes may be detrimental to human health with the possibility to initiate cancer development."

The thing to consider is that most people smoke far more cigarettes than pot... but some do smoke 3-4 joints per day or more, and (just like folks beside a BBQ) they obviously increase their cancer risk as a result. Like me... I smoke the occasional cigar, and yes, I'm increasing my cancer risk, but I do it because I enjoy it... much like sipping a fine scotch... It has risks, but it also brings pleasure. You need to do the cost benefit analysis, and do things in moderation, that's all.


As for the mental issues, schizophrenia is most common. The studies have yet to determine whether schizophrenics are just more likely to smoke pot, whether pot smoking leads to schizophrenia, or if the symptoms of pot smoking merely resemble the symptoms of schizophrenia. There's also issues of depression and suicidal ideations, but those suffer the same issues as I mentioned above in terms of cause/correlation.


http://www.medicinenet.com/marijuana/article.htm

A number of studies have shown an association between chronic marijuana use and increased rates of anxiety, depression, suicidal ideation, and schizophrenia. Some of these studies have shown age at first use to be a factor, where early use is a marker of vulnerability to later problems. However, at this time, it not clear whether marijuana use causes mental problems, exacerbates them, or is used in attempt to self-medicate symptoms already in existence. Chronic marijuana use, especially in a very young person, may also be a marker of risk for mental illnesses, including addiction, stemming from genetic or environmental vulnerabilities, such as early exposure to stress or violence. At the present time, the strongest evidence links marijuana use and schizophrenia and/or related disorders. High doses of marijuana can produce an acute psychotic reaction, and research suggests that in vulnerable individuals, marijuana use may be a factor that increases risk for the disease.

It is, however, very effective at treating the symptoms of some of our nastier cancer treatments, it's just important to consider delivery methods other than smoking it (like a patch, or inhaler, or even brownies):

http://www.cancer.org/docroot/ETO/co..._Marijuana.asp

Nobody has ever died from Marijuana.
Tobacco kills 450,000 people every year in America alone.

Originally Posted by jr602az

Nobody has ever died from Marijuana.

But people HAVE died from the cancer it has caused. When you make statements in the absolute, you absolutely tend to be wrong.

Originally Posted by inow

Originally Posted by jr602az

Nobody has ever died from Marijuana.

But people HAVE died from the cancer it has caused. When you make statements in the absolute, you absolutely tend to be wrong.

Marijuana helps lung cancer, HIV, AIDS, diseases and other serious cancers.

No, it merely helps people feel better when they are being treated for those illnesses.

Originally Posted by jr602az

Marijuana helps lung cancer, HIV, AIDS, diseases and other serious cancers.

Listen. I'm hardly some opponent of marijuana (I did, after all, go to college). However, I am a proponent of truth and understanding, and I encourage you to at the very least review the links I shared in my post above to ensure you don't say such things in your posts which are so obviously and blatantly wrong.

Free radical is also correct. Marijuana use tends to help with some of the symptoms of the harsh treatments used for those diseases. It does not help with the diseases themselves (and, in fact, as already supported above, increases cancer incidence when smoked).

Originally Posted by jr602az

Nobody has ever died from Marijuana.
Tobacco kills 450,000 people every year in America alone.

/Thread

I think smoking marijuana is far more dangerous than smoking Cigarettes 8)

Originally Posted by new_guy

Originally Posted by jr602az

Nobody has ever died from Marijuana.
Tobacco kills 450,000 people every year in America alone.

/Thread

Sure, if you're not interested in that pesky thing we scientists call "verifiable evidence". Marijuana can only be said to have killed nobody if we say the same of tobacco. Both bring similar risks. Marijuana only less so because it's rather harder to smoke 40 a day for 50 years.

Are there any stats and investigations into the use of filters in most tobacco cigarettes and the fact that most pot smokers roll their own? That could have an obvious effect.

Both Cigar and Marijuana have their own ill effects.


Drug Rehab

Marijuana is safer! Government propaganda has embedded in the minds of the masses that it is such a so so "BAD" drug but we all know in the modern world that such claims are bogus / over exaggerated