Marijuana and Cigarettes are both things that all Americans have heard about. Man untrue ideas have been spread about both products. Marijuana is not legal and it may not be as harmful as cigarettes. Marijuana is less harmful to the brain, body, and environment than cigarettes.
When someone smokes a cigarette they say they feel a sensation all over their body. Users may experience different feelings. Many people say it creates a relaxing feeling all over the body, some say it helps to clear their head, and some say they like the taste of the cigarette.
Marijuana creates a different sensation in the body. Marijuana can be used in different ways including using a bong, a pipe, or rolling it into a hollowed out cigarette called a joint or blunt (American Lung Association). When users smoke marijuana they say it creates a high sensation. This sensation is described as making the user feel floaty, a distorted sense of time, haziness, increased hunger, happy, giggly, and dizziness. Some people have reported hallucinations from high doses of marijuana. Occasionally users say it has made them anxious, panic, or feel distrustful (Volkow). They say the effects last around two to four hours. All of these effects vary from person to person and the amount of marijuana inhaled.
The ingredients used in Cigarettes and Marijuana are very different. The main ingredient in cigarettes is tobacco however it does not make up a cigarette alone. Cigarettes can have 600 ingredients, including vinegar, rocket fuel, sewer gas or paint (Tri-County Cessation Center). Marijuana is solely made of the plant Cannabis sativa. The active ingredient in Cannabis sativa is delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). This ingredient is from the plant alone with no additi...
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“New Study Shows Smokers Underutilize Proven Treatment and Services For Quitting.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2014. .
Tri-County Cessation Center. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Feb. 2014. .
Volkow, Nora D., M.D. “Marijuana Abuse.” National Institute on Drug Abuse. N.p., July 2012. Web. 19 Feb. 2014. .
“Youth and Tobacco Use.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. N.p., 14 Feb. 2014. Web. 24 Feb. 2014. .
For many years now marijuana has built up its reputations as the gateway drug which destroys youths lives. Not saying this is false “...the majority of people who use marijuana do not go on to use other, "harder" substances” (Is Marijuana a gateway drug?). But what does it do to the body. “How marijuana affects health is determined by how it's consumed. Marijuana is most commonly smoked, such as from pipes, bongs, paper-wrapped joints, blunts and other items including devices that heat or vaporize marijuana...” (Marijuana and Lung Health). Any kind of smoke in general is dangerous to humans so it does not matter if it is firewood smoke or tobacco smoke it is not healthy for the lungs. It is already know that smoke from tobacco is harmful and kills 480,000 people annually. “There are approximately 600 ingredients in cigarettes. When burned, they create more than 7,000 chemicals. At least 69 of these chemicals are known to cause cancer, and many are poisonous” (What is a Cigarette).While marijuana does have some of the same chemicals in tobacco it does not have as much. So why is something that is recorded to kill 480,000 people annually legal but something that is not as harmful illegal.
Wingerchuk, Dean. "Cannabis for Medical Purposes: Cultivating Science, Weeding Out the Fiction." The Lancet 364.9431 (2004): 315-16. Print.
First of all, some people feel smoking marijuana can get hyper, which providing them the emotion of happiness, and helping them to see the world from a different perspective. However, marijuana will cause a lot of healthy problems to human’s body. Marijuana has many physical effects on human such as rapid heart rate, red eyes and dry mouth. Because the chemical THC will enter into the body when people are smoking it, THC will enter through the bloodstream to the brain. The chemical affects them to feel ecstasy and unreality; therefore, THC will make them feel more confused if people smoke marijuana for a long time. According to, “ Treat marijuana abuse like a health problem” (McMillan, 2007, July 17), it shows using marijuana can cause more serious health issues on human’s body such as bronchitis, emphysema, and cancer. In addition, using marijuana has also been linked to lung damage and affects the respiratory and cardiovascular systems. For example, if marijuana ...
Smoking is the leading cause of preventable death in the United States and worldwide (Centers for Disease Control, 2013, World Health Organization, 2008). Tobacco cessation counseling is a vital component of any public health strategy seeking to decrease mortality, disease and costs associated with smoking. To that end, the Healthy People 2020 Tobacco Use Objectives cover three main areas: reducing tobacco use, instituting health system changes, and creating social and environmental changes (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2013). Objective TU-10 falls under the category of health system changes as it seeks to open doors for patients to make quit attempts and to pursue tobacco cessation methods by increasing tobacco cessation counseling by physicians and other health care providers.
Schwartz, Richard H. "Marijuana: A Decade And A Half Later, Still A Crude Drug With Underappreciated Toxicity." Pediatrics 109.2 (2002): 284. MasterFILE Premier. Web. 29 Mar. 2014.
Alcohol and marijuana are two drugs commonly used and abused in the United States. Alcohol is the number one abused drug, while marijuana is number one among illegal drugs. While alcohol remains legal, and marijuana illegal, this does not necessarily mean that alcohol is better for you. There have been many arguments where people suggest that marijuana should be legal because alcohol is more deadly. On the other hand, there are alcoholics who would tell a pothead that smoking weed is bad for you. Both substances are very bad for your health and should not be heavily used by anyone.
It bonds the people together. Smoking cigarettes is a cult, a religion, a philosophy. It’s not only a lifestyle, but it’s a belief-system. Smoking is all about the illusion of freedom. The illusion of freedom is most powerful among teenagers of junior high or high school age. The lit cigarette in your mouth your badge of freedom and defiance. It’s fun to smoke precisely because we live in a world where we’re not supposed to smoke. Smoking a cigarette separates you from your actual lame self and turns you into the cool person you want to
National Institute on Drug Abuse. "The Nagative consequences of Marijuana Use." Marijuana (Contemporary Issues Companion). Tardiff, Joseph, ed. Farmington Hills: Greenhaven Press, 2008. 34-44. Print
Nicotine is addictive whether the user uses tobacco products or just smokes cigarettes. Addiction is what makes someone continuously smoke even when they are trying to quit. For some people, breaking the cycle is harder than others. Many people don’t know the various methods to quit smoking. When tobacco products are used, nicotine is quickly absorbed into the bloodstream. In the matter of ten seconds of entering the body, nicotine reaches the brain. This causes the brain to release adrenaline, creating a buzz of pleasure and energy. The buzz evaporates quickly, leaving behind a tired feeli...
Stanley, Janet E., Stanley J. Watson, and John A. Benson. Marijuana and Medicine: Assessing the Science Base. Washington D.C.: National Academy P, 1999.
Marijuana is by far safer than both cigarettes and alcohol, two substances that are legal in the U.S and all over the world. Many people will argue that marijuana is more harmful than the two, but thats not the case. Cigarettes and alcohol are much more dangerous and addictive than marijuana.
Recreational marijuana should not be legalized because of the many negative health effects it has on a person. Marijuana has a big effect on the lungs and when marijuana is smoked it can cause harm to the lungs. The smoke from marijuana has cancer causing substances in it. “Smoking marijuana can cause large air sacs, called bullae, to form. Bullae normally form in young marijuana smokers (less than 45 years old.)” (Drake and Slatore). Marijuana smoke has the same harmful chemicals that tobacco products contain, and marijuana smokers develop lung damage because of this. The fact that marijuana smokers hold the smoke in their lungs longer than tobacco smokers and there is no filters in bongs, bowls, blunts, or joints, there is no safe way to smoke marijuana. Blunts are the wrapping of a cigar filled with marijuana, a...
The psychological reaction, known as a high, consists of changes in the user s feelings and thoughts. Such changes are caused mainly by THC. The effects of marijuana vary from person to person and from one time to another in the same individual. In most cases, the high consists of a dreamy, relaxed state in which users seem more aware of their senses and feel that time is moving slowly. Sometimes, however, marijuana produces a feeling of panic and dread.
Marijuana and alcohol are both abused substances in the U.S., but one is far more dangerous. For years the study of marijuana and alcohol have been being compared by their different health effects on the human body. These two substances both have effects on the brain, cardiovascular system, and the mood of a user. Marijuana is a less harmful substance than alcohol due to the annual deaths of each substance and their health effects on the human body.
In recent years, smoking has started to take over the lives of many teenagers. The number of teenagers smoking has increased dramatically in the last several years. This is a major problem because smoking can lead to sickness and major diseases that can lead to death. Teens tend to participate in this while out of the presence of an adult figure. Although teens should not be smoking in the first place, an adult figure should be around to help insure that their children are doing the right things, even when they are behind sealed doors with their peers. Teenagers as they mature become a model for younger children and when they set the example of smoking can ruin their respectable image to the children that look up to them.