-
Asked by reece1998 to Alison, Artem, Caroline, John, Gunther on 19 Jun 2012. This question was also asked by maciej.
-
Artem Evdokimov answered on 19 Jun 2012:
It is not an easy question to answer, because of the strong socio-political bias against either form of smoking – the information available to us is often filtered through layers of social commentary, political agenda and so on.
One thing is very clear, though: there is a pretty solid scientific consensus that smoking (pretty much doesn’t matter what you’re smoking) is bad for you. It’s not even the active ingredient that matters all that much, but rather all the other junk that is inhaled with the smoke – various partially combusted products of burning plant matter. So it is safe to say that smoking less material and doing it less frequently is better for you. The answer of what’s worse is further complicated by research that suggests that smokers of cannabis are also more likely to smoke tobacco. So drawing a pure harm level comparison is difficult.
http://www.dailystrength.org/health_blogs/dr-orrange/article/is-smoking-pot-really-bad-for-you
seems to be a fairly well balanced commentary, but remember – this is still a blog.
I would say that smoking either substance is a bad idea in general.
-
-
John Short answered on 19 Jun 2012:
Good question: both can make you addicted, but nicotine in cigarrettes is more powerful than cannabis in most people. Cannabis will cause mental side effects if you abuse it, such as shcizophrenia, psychosis and other issues, but most people just having one now and then won’t suffer these. The thing is, like with alcohol, different people may suffer different effects to the drug. Most won’t become addicted, or suffer serious side effects, but some will always.
Cannabis affects your co-ordination, which is one of the reasons why drug driving, like drink driving, is illegal, but cigarrettes are not.
Cannabis withdrawal symptoms can include cravings for cannabis, irritability, mood changes, appetite disturbance, weight loss, difficulty sleeping. With cigarettes, though, nicotine is so powerful that it is very hard to give up.
If you have a history of mental health problems, taking cannabis is not a good idea. It can cause paranoia in the short term, but in those with a pre-existing psychotic illness, such as schizophrenia, it can contribute to relapse. If you use cannabis and have a family background of mental illness, such as schizophrenia, you may be at increased risk of developing a psychotic illness. Ciggarrettes do not cause these issues.
However, in terms of cancer etc, as most people who smoke cannabis smoke it with tobacco as well, people are at risk from lung cancer etc, although a chemical called THC in cannabis reduces this somewhat as well some as some of the respiratory problems – THC causes the “high” that users feel. It also helps fight inflammation and may counteract the effects of more irritating chemicals in the drug, clearance of tar etc.
Most people who smoke cannabis are not heavy users like with ciggarrettes, with most smoking a couple of joints a month in a recent study http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/10/marijuana-and-lungs-study_n_1197854.html,. Asa result, they genereally do not have the same risk as developing the same respiratory problems as smokers due to less usage with cannabis compared to normal cigarrette smoking, although they are at an increased risk compared to a non-user.
However: Cannabis in the UK is a class B drug, it is illegal to have
– Possession of a controlled drug unlawfully
– Possession of a controlled drug with intent to supply it
– Supplying or offering to supply a controlled drug (even where no charge is made for the drug)
– Allowing premises you occupy or manage to be used unlawfully for the purpose of producing or supplying controlled drugs
Comments