Pot smoking worse than Cigarettes

[theFallenGod]

Smoking marijuana is far more dangerous than smoking cigarettes, according to a group of scientists in New Zealand.

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.


For the study, researchers interviewed 79 lung cancer patients in an effort identify the main risk factors for the disease, such as smoking, family history and occupation. The patients were questioned about alcohol and marijuana consumption.


In the high-exposure group, lung cancer risk rose by 5.7 times for patients who smoked more than a joint a day for 10 years, or two joints a day for 5 years, after adjusting for other variables, including cigarette smoking.


"Cannabis smokers end up with five times more carbon monoxide in their bloodstream (than tobacco smokers)," team leader Richard Beasley, at the Medical Research Institute of New Zealand, said in a news release.
The scientists also noted that marijuana could be expected to harm the airways more than tobacco since its smoke contained twice the level of carcinogens, such as polyaromatic hydrocarbons, compared with tobacco cigarettes.
"There are higher concentrations of carcinogens in cannabis smoke...what is intriguing to us is there is so little work done on cannabis when there is so much done on tobacco,” said Beasley.
"In the near future we may see an 'epidemic' of lung cancers connected with this new carcinogen. And the future risk probably applies to many other countries, where increasing use of cannabis among young adults and adolescents is becoming a major public health problem,” he added.
Study results appear in the in the European Respiratory Journal.




http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,326309,00.html


What do you think?

 

[Comrad]

Didn't need to read all of that BS to know it a fake. My aunt still smokes pot and looks damn good. I can see how one COULD compare weed and cigs, but i doubt they parallel each other when it comes to health reasons. I cant think of one person who has cancer from smoking weed.

 

[LatinoSTAR]

Didn't need to read all of that BS to know it a fake. My aunt still smokes pot and looks damn good. I can see how one COULD compare weed and cigs, but i doubt they parallel each other when it comes to health reasons. I cant think of one person who has cancer from smoking weed.

Yeah its garbage, i read the first sentence than i was like, whatever, my great grandfather is 95, he has been smoking weed since he was 21, he is in perfect health, he smokes 2 joints a day, so i doubt this is true

 

[metta]

Interesting. I would also like to see studies that show the long term effects to the brain. We know that long term use can cause brain damage. It would be interesting to know how much damage and what part of the brain it damages.

 

[AlinCanada]

I know a two pack a day smoker who has been smoking for 55 years and doesn't have lung cancer. It is obvious that the link between smoking and cancer is false. Right?? That study actually is a repeat of one doen in Lancet some 15 years ago and yes it is true.

 

[Paws]

The researchers found that smoking one joint is equivalent to 20 cigarettes in terms of lung cancer.

It's all about the filter.

I recite my friends, because I don't smoke joints myself:
- Marijuana smoked without tobacco is more harmless than a cigarette, but might have the bigger effect and stone you more
- therefore, a joint is usually stretched with tobacco/nicotine to reduce the effect and still have enough content to fill and roll a joint
- joint filters are usually just rolled up paper, of course it's not as effective as the usual cigarette filter
- due to that, you inhale more bad stuff from the nicotine in the joint than with a usual cigarette

 

[drhladnjak]

Breathing smoke is just in general not good for your lungs. Not everybody who smokes cigarettes gets lung cancer (in fact, most don't). And lung cancer isn't the only health issue with smoking. Besides other lung-related issues like emphysema or even bronchitis there are cardiovascular risks for high blood pressure and heart attack from smoking too. It's not hard to believe that smoking pot could be hard on your lungs or heart too.

That said, smoking two packs of cigarettes a day is 40 cigarettes per day. Even the biggest pot heads don't smoke that much.

 

[a_crazed_hobo]

This may or may not be true. If the risk of developing lung cancer in smoking pot outweighs the fact that cigarettes are packed full of thousands of chemical additives, then give me a joint anyday!

I can do without the tar, formaldehyde, ammonia, nicotine and arsenic that comes with smoking cigarette and stick with pure THC.

 

[theFallenGod]

Cigarettes = lung problems

Pot = lung problems and mental problems

I think we now have a definitive answer as to why pot is still illegal in parts of the free world

 

[LatinoSTAR]

Cigarettes = lung problems

Pot = lung problems and mental problems

I think we now have a definitive answer as to why pot is still illegal in parts of the free world

There is no real evidence to support those accusations, its only illegal cause thats what the government wants, Marijuana is an amazing painkiller, and if made legal, doctors could lose possibly hundreds of millions of dollars a year, people will stop buying prescribed Medications, and go buy an eigth off their friendly neighborhood Drug dealer, money is the object of Everything, do you think our government wants to lose close to a billion dollars a year?? i dont think so..

And as for the alleged "Mental" problems caused by marijuana, thats bullshit, i mean, if you smoke it non stop 24/7 i can understand it, but 98% of Pot Smokers Dont smoke enough to Cause Permanent "Mental" Damage. So just get of your moral high Horse and Smoke Some Endo!!!

 

[LeoMikey]

Cigarette smokers smoke more than pot smokers. Most smokers smoke a pack a day. How many pot smokers could handle smoking 20 joints (rolled as thick as a Marlboro) everyday, 365 days a year?
ANY smoke is bad for you. Pot certainly costs more than cigarettes, and cigs are too expensive. At least with pot you get something for your money (stoned hungry & horny). What do smokers get for their money? A temporary fix to stop nicotene withdrawl? Yippie.
That article forgot to mention one important exception. You don't have to smoke pot to use pot. You can make brownies, cookies, butter....it can be baked with anything. I use a vaporizer which does'nt let you inhale any smoke. There are thc pills you can take. There are filters that can be attached to any bong or bowl.
These studies are such bullshit. These are the same people who believe that pot is a "gateway" drug. Most pot smokers i know, myself included, only smoke pot. I have never done any hard drugs, and i don't smoke cigarettes or drink alcohol. I don't crave pot, i have'nt smoked since Thanksgiving, and it does'nt faze me. How many cigarette smokers can go that long and not crave it?

 

[TygreBryte]

I know a two pack a day smoker who has been smoking for 55 years and doesn't have lung cancer. It is obvious that the link between smoking and cancer is false. Right??

Nope, that's not right.

 

[TygreBryte]

What surprises me most about that study is that I remember there was another study, out this summer, that gave the surprising finding that MJ smoking was significantly associated with less cancer, but was associated with respiratory problems.

I think I would need to see several studies, together, to begin to decide what I think.

 

[teddy14]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,326309,00.html


What do you think?

its on fox "news" so its obviously biassed.

 

[josher]

Anyone who thinks smoking pot isn't harmful to the body and the brain is deluding him/herself.

 

[Kulindahr]

I want to see a study differentiate between pot smoking by joint and by pipe using a cigarette lighter to keep it hot. That extra carbon dioxide in the blood makes a great deal of sense for those using a pipe and lighter.

 

[theFallenGod]

And as for the alleged "Mental" problems caused by marijuana, thats bullshit, i mean, if you smoke it non stop 24/7 i can understand it, but 98% of Pot Smokers Dont smoke enough to Cause Permanent "Mental" Damage. So just get of your moral high Horse and Smoke Some Endo!!!

Coming from the source of someone who capitalizes every other word I would definitely say that there is no "alleged" about it.

 

[theFallenGod]

I humbly apologize for the above comment... It just came out of my fingertips before I had a chance to stop it...

After a few moments thought I realized I should not have done that.

I was a little perturbed by the fact that he referred to me as being on a moral high horse when I just presented an article.

 

[Joshua_me]

Now now, let's not quibble, gentlemen.

Bottom line, both tobacco and pot are bad for you...there's no getting around that... You're inhaling smoke, for goodness sake, how could anyone ever have thought that would somehow be OK ?

That being said, you could argue a bit on the side of pot being slightly less harmful. Gone are the days when you had to smoke an entire joint to get high. Just one or two hits through an ice water bong is all it takes...surely much better than smoking one ciggie after another all day long. Not to mention you could eat pot in brownies if you wanted to... no smoke at all, there.

As for mental problems. Ehh, I don't know. I'll have to fall back on the old cliche that I know lots and lots of people who have smoked pot on and off for lots and lots of years now and they seem just fine to me.

If you have a pre-existing mental illness, there's certainly a chance that pot could trigger it's onslaught or at least exacerbate it's severity, but that could well happen after too much alcohol or any number of other stressors as well.

Myself, I gave up the 'wacky weed' years ago, but I haven't ruled out the possibility that I might go back to it one day, perhaps in my retirement years, perhaps not. But, one thing I will never do is sit back and pass judgment on those who choose to smoke whatever they wish.

 

[theFallenGod]

Arguing over which is worse is like arguing over which bullet would kill you.

I see see people all the time who don't just smoke occasionally, it's a 4 to 5 times a day thing.

and if 1 full joint is equal to 1 pack of cigarettes than these people are smoking the equivalent of 5 packs of cigarettes a day.

Not to mention that pot also causes short term memory loss, slow reaction times, and a general lack of any kind of ambition and you have to wonder... is the high really worth it?

To me personally, it's just as bad as heroin. I watch my neighbours blow almost their entire paycheque on pot and wonder why they don't want to go out and do stuff and wonder why they are always broke.