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Cigarette v/s marijuana

Discussion in 'Marijuana' started by Hiraeth, Oct 17, 2015.

  1. Hiraeth

    Hiraeth Active Contributor

    I have asked this to many people but haven't yet found a satisfactory answer.

    The moment you mention that someone does pot, the entire crowd sort of shudders. What is it really about marijuana? Are the effects that everyone warns about purely medical and health related or is it laced with societal prejudices and taboos?

    From personal experience, smoking cigarettes for a few days alone has done more perceptible harm to my body than smoking occasional weed over few years have. Not to mention that thousands of people die from nicotine induced cancer - keeping aside the many lung conditions, mouth infections and ulcers people often develop. Contrary to this, I have never really heard about anyone dying from weed. And now we have talks about medical marijuana to treat cancer. In this context, how does cigarette get sold legally while marijuana gets swept under the Schedule I drug category along with heroin and coke? What makes weed more dangerous and harmful that nicotine?
    bellahpereira likes this.
  2. Tremmie

    Tremmie Community Champion

    Well, I recently read that marijuana is actually good for lung health, capable of even reversing the carcinogenic effects of tobacco in the lungs. I'm not sure how true that can be, but I know for sure tobacco can harm someone more than marijuana. I think marijuana has such a bad rep (when compared to tobacco) because you can get high from smoking and thus considered a drug according t most people's definition. That does' not happen with tobacco... that even though it kills people slowly people don't see it like they do marijuana, simply because cigarettes are legal everywhere.
  3. Rowe992

    Rowe992 Senior Contributor

    Well it is all due to the propaganda over the years that marijuana was dangerous because they wanted to protect the tobacco producers. Marijuana is a better option than tobacco if you want to smoke any at all.
  4. Dasjdas2

    Dasjdas2 Member

    Truth be told cigarettes are way more harmful then marijuana. Many studies says that marijuana can help you with a lot of help problems, where have you seen anything for this about cigarettes. I use to smoke back when I was young and the only problem I had with marijuana is not liking to pay for it. This is the reason I stopped because as I got older it felt like I was wasting money.
  5. 6up

    6up Community Champion

    Neither cigarettes nor marijuana is safe for our health. We are supposed to avoid them both. Anything that can be addictive is harmful to our health. Why smoke marijuana and yet it has no health benefits. Instead of smoking Marijuana, use the money to buy clothes or food.
  6. zaerine

    zaerine Community Champion

    Maybe it also depends on which country you are or if marijuana is legal or illegal in your area. Cigarette is not considered as an illegal substance although it has been proven that is very dangerous to health. While marijuana is considered as an illegal drugs on most areas and knowing one using it on such area will automatically think that you are doing an illegal or bad thing. Agree that both are harmful.
  7. Joethefirst

    Joethefirst Community Champion

    Medical marijuana isn't supposed to be smoked. A great deal of medical marijuana consumers do smoke it, but the main reason they consume it, is to get the cannabinoides. Marijuana has 30 or more cannabinoides not only thc. Both marijuana and tobacco are detrimental to your health if smoked.
  8. henry

    henry Community Champion

    Marijuana is only illegal because it's great business keeping it like that. Al Capone got rich and powerful thanks to the prohibition, and to this day, there are a lot of fat cats getting rich on the so called war on drugs, including governments all over the world. It's become part of the economy. Watch the movie Sicario and you'll see what I mean.
  9. Rainman

    Rainman Community Champion

    There was an old study which attempted to prove that smoking marijuana was almost as bad as smoking cigarettes.

    http://www.theguardian.com/society/2003/may/02/drugsandalcohol.science
    They were only speculating I know but I suppose the reason why marijuana is illegal is because authorities are terrified of the effect it will have on those who abuse the drug since it solely affects the mind.
  10. knitmehere

    knitmehere Community Champion

    It's just one of those things where generations of people were told lies of all of the negative effects of pot, while the media and companies hyped up cigarettes. They didn't know how bad it was for you until it was too late.

    Now we're trying to shake off the old lies of pot and bring into the light how bad tobacco products are, but it's a slow climb and it's hard to change the minds of older generations.
  11. Carnold23

    Carnold23 Community Champion

    Cigarettes are MUCH more harmful then marijuana! The taboo around marijuana was all started because the government didn't want people making money off of it when they weren't making any money off of it. I don't like either, I am trying to quit smoking right now. But I would much rather someone smoke marijuana then cigarettes, purely for the health of their bodies.
  12. Just Another Shallow Man

    Just Another Shallow Man Active Contributor

    Both are harmful and addictive, and I think cigs might actually even be more harmful. I really don't understand why there's such a war against marijuana but not against cigs, personally...
  13. mooray

    mooray Active Contributor

    I would choose marijuana over tobacco any day. I just don't feel the effects of cigarette kick in compared to marijuana plus cigarette is more harmful health wise.
  14. knitmehere

    knitmehere Community Champion

    I'm just curious, for those of you who say that marijuana is bad, too... what do you think is so bad about it? (Really just curious, not trying to start anything)
  15. Hiraeth

    Hiraeth Active Contributor

    My stand precisely. I would choose pot over cigarettes any day. It's ridiculous how they paste images of bleeding gums and infected lungs along with the "statutory warning" on cigarette packs, while letting it be sold legally across the world. Smoking is illegal in most areas of Singapore, but there are specific spots where one is allowed. Doesn't make any sense to me.
  16. Hiraeth

    Hiraeth Active Contributor

    I would like to know too, in detail..

    From personal experience, I've not found myself getting addicted to pot despite smoking it pretty regularly whereas I've been trying to quit cigarettes right after a couple of month's use. Besides the obvious harmful effect of "smoke" entering the lungs, I don't know what else could be harmful about marijuana. I believe people are scared of the trips that smoking pot can sometimes give.
  17. knitmehere

    knitmehere Community Champion

    I smoked pot for a number of years, and never got any negative effects from it. Of course people can get addicted to anything, no matter if it has addictive properties or not, but people act as though pot is out there killing people...
  18. Adrianna

    Adrianna Community Champion

    Well we're going to find out eventually what marijuana does in the long run. Cigarettes started out the same way. Promoted by doctors that its good for you. History repeats itself remember? An occasional weed smoker of course would not have the same terrible out come as someone who smokes cigarettes every day.
    I'm sorry but puffing on any kind of smoke on purpose can't be good for you. I'm going to take a stab in the dark and say somewhere in the medical industry. Whether its medical scientific labs or the big pharma or whomever. They know what the real effect is of marijuana long term use. But how interesting is it that they've paired it with the biggest scam health problem such as cancer? This is what most people cringe about. The dreaded cancer. Oh but look you get to puff on some marijuana to help you with your chemo. Seems a little too much like some form of shell game BS to me. Come on. What the hell is wrong with people that they are falling for this? Brainwashed zombies. I know somebody who had lung cancer. They told him he'd be dead in 6 months. He did chemo. Smoked week for the side effects of that. How does that make any sense? You have lung cancer and you will throw more smoke down there. No this is nonsense. He lived 5 years longer. Other than that I don't know what happened to him. Chemo kills more people than it saves. They only care about shrinking the tumor. Chemo is just mustard gas. The Germans used it in WWI to harm and kill soldiers by the thousands.
    How do they figure that it is going to save lives? You can see ramblings on about how they will say oh its come a long way, the mustard gas that is now a medical treatment. BS, its not good for anyone.
    The marijuana, I don't know why they are doing that. Eventually in 20-30 years people will find out. They are probably genetically modifying weed and crossing it with some off the wall thing.
  19. bellahpereira

    bellahpereira Member

    I completely agree with this! I have always wondered why marijuana gets such a bad reputation when there are other substances like cigarettes and alcohol that cause greater health risks and are, for some reason, legal. The illegality of marijuana is slowly subsiding with more and more states making it legal and recognizing the medicinal properties. But unless we educate the population about the negative effects of other substances as well, in this case tobacco and alcohol, we will never be able to dispel this negative connotation that comes with marijuana use. I am so glad to hear that someone shares the same views as I do regarding the legality and illegality of certain substances.
  20. mauricioq

    mauricioq Member

    Cigarettes are way more harmful for you, but with it you stay sober. That's why marijuana is seen as a taboo, because it can change the course of your actions.