Is Cannabis (Bud) as bad a cigarette smoke ?

Question

Talking decent cultivated natural Bud

Would be interesting to know. And i dont want loads of blurb about how bad smoking cannabis is etc because i know that already. I dont think once or twice a month is a problem.

Just thinkin as its natural and doesnt have the additives and chemicals etc perhaps it is not so bad?

PS Ive been smoking bud for 20 years on and off!

Answer 1

No. Cigarette smoke is very bad - it contains about 50 other chemicals which are also carcinogens.

There are no medical benefits from cigarette smoke, but many people have medical benefits from weed.

Answer 2

Geeze man - once or twice a month is a problem - that's how my boyfriend started - he stopped smoking it 2 and a half years ago and still suffers from depression cos of it! By "as bad as" you surely do care a bit about your health - all smoking is bad - think about what you're putting into your body! Sorry for the lecture but I've seen what cannabis can do!

From a botanical point of view, what did you want to know? Cigarettes are bad cos of heaps of chemicals they throw in, not just tobacco, but if it's a choice between pure canabis and pure tobacco you'd have to ask a dr - they each contain high levels of toxins, a dr would be able to tell you the effects of each and then you could make your own desision based on the facts.

Answer 3

The jury is still out about the benefits and health risks. The misinformation from people with political agendas make risk assessments range anywhere from 'less harmful than coffee' to 'twenty times as harmful as a cigarette'. New research indicates it may help prevent Alzhymers, but no doctors are telling anyone to start smoking or anything.

I'd say putting anything into your lungs can lead to emphysema. The cancer risks seem to be lower than cigarettes, but again, it varies from study to study (I've seen one that says cannibis has no known and two possible carcinogens, and another that says it has five times the carcinogens). I think the only thing you have to fear from a once or twice a month habit is getting caught, flunking a whizz quiz, or liking it and doing it more often.

Don't trust anything that were made by/for a legalization organization like Normyl, the Partnership for a Drug Free America, or that are government sponsored (all of these publish results that work to their ends only, and in the case of PDFA and the government, have published some downright lies). That pretty much leaves you with no data, so do what you feel is best for you. Your body will let you know, if you listen to it.

Answer 4

crow contains (depending on potency) around 4-6x the amount of cancer causing chemicals in a zoot than in a cigarette. It also has health impacts on the respiratory system but not as bad as smoking. If your crow has around 5 x more then you would have to smoke 4 zoots a day to get the same amount of carconogenics as a 20 a day smoker. However the main risks with cannabis is that it can be a cause of (or more likely) a trigger for mental illness that you carry in your genes that may not be active. So basically if you have no record in your family of mental health problems (schizophrenia, depression etc.) then although it's not safe its probably better for you than smoking cigarettes or drinking alcohol (given that there are at least 100,000 deaths every year in the UK from alcohol and you would have to smoke whole kilos of crow before it killed you). Hope thats useful...

Answer 5

In a word NO! if u mix it with tobacco thats different but if u smoke it by its self its fine. Many people have the same deluded idea that cannabis is oh soo bad. cannabis does not contain the nicotine and tar that tobacco does. imo lay off the cigs lay off the booze and stick to the bud and u cant go wrong.

Answer 6

They reckon now that it effects you in a different way and messes with your brain, always nice to know.

I think if you smoke it with tobacco and with a rolled bit of card or whatever instead of using a filter (like a normal cigarette) then yes, unfortunately it will be. If however you are just smoking pure green... I'm not sure to be honest but imagine that it could be just as bad.

You could try looking on frank (the government run drugs advisory) to see if they provide an explanation!

Answer 7

Cannabis is addictive for 10% of the population.
on its own, smoked in 'pure form' it is slightly less harmfull than a standard cigarette.
As most Cannabis is smoked mixed with tobacco, this makes it more dangrous.
This is due to the additional affect of cannabis psycosis

Answer 8

hello, yes it is, when i stopped smoking it my lungs became clearer and i regained my memory! its good fun for a while but dont take it too far u really dont notice what its doing to you till you stop! im not gona lecture coz i was a HEAVY smoker myself for 4 years (the govenment says a heavy smoker is some one who smokes 3-4 joints a week i was doing double that in a day!)

Once or twice a month is fine. it wont do much long term damage to you. just watch out and know when it is affecting you too much many people start off with just a little bit and before long they are smoking way to regulary.

But the short answer is yes. its worse, much worst, 4 times as many cancer causing carcinogens, and buggers your mind after a while.

Answer 9

Many people think smoking marijuana is just as harmful as smoking tobacco, but this is not true. Those who hold that marijuana is equivalent to tobacco are misinformed. Due to the efforts of various federal agencies to discourage use of marijuana in the 1970's the government, in a fit of "reefer
madness," conducted several biased studies designed to return results that would equate marijuana smoking with tobacco smoking, or worse.

For example the Berkeley carcinogenic tar studies of the late 1970's concluded that "marijuana is one-and-a-half times as carcinogenic as tobacco." This finding was based solely on the tar content of cannabis leaves compared to that of tobacco, and did not take radioactivity into consideration. (Cannabis tars do not contain radioactive materials.) In addition, it was not considered that:

1) Most marijuana smokers smoke the bud, not the leaf, of
the plant. The bud contains only 33% as much tar as tobacco.

2) Marijuana smokers do not smoke anywhere near as much as tobacco smokers, due to the psychoactive effects of cannabis.

3) Not one case of lung cancer has ever been successfully linked to marijuana use.

4) Cannabis, unlike tobacco, does not cause any narrowing of the small air passageways in the lungs.

In fact, marijuana has been shown to be an expectorant and actually dilates the air channels it comes in contact with. This is why many asthma sufferers look to marijuana to provide relief. Doctors have postulated that marijuana may, in this respect, be more effective than all of the prescription drugs on the market.

Studies even show that due to marijuana's ability to clear the lungs of smog, pollutants, and cigarette smoke, it may actually reduce your risk of emphysema, bronchitis, and lung cancer. Smokers of cannabis have been shown to outlive non-smokers in some areas by up to two years. Medium to heavy tobacco smokers will live seven to ten years longer if they also
smoke marijuana.

Cannabis is also radically different from tobacco in that it does not contain nicotine and is not addictive. The psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, THC, has been accused of causing brain and genetic damage, but these studies have all been disproven. In fact, the DEA's own Administrative Law Judge Francis Young has declared that "marijuana in its natural form is far safer than many foods we commonly consume."

Answer 10

Weed has 4 times the amount of 'tar' than cigarettes. Both will give you lung cancer though. Edit: Pure weed isn't possible. You're still inhaling smoke and chemicals into your lungs.