Tobacco vs. Marijuana: How Each May Affect Your Health

For those of you in the cannabis industry, we have great news. Although, if you have been doing your research over the past several years, you probably already know that marijuana is considered much safer than both tobacco and alcohol. However, now experts are agreeing with what advocates of recreational marijuana have asserted for years—that you are much better off enjoying a moderate amount of marijuana than either tobacco or alcohol.


NBC News’ website recently published the results of a study, and we’d like to share those findings here. NBC reported that Scientific Reports published an in-depth study that compared the potential of death from the typical, recreational use of 10 drugs: marijuana, alcohol, tobacco, heroin, cocaine, ecstasy, methamphetamine, diazepam, amphetamine and methadone. Marijuana was found to be the safest, by far, even when compared to alcohol and cigarettes.

For years, medical-marijuana proponents and legalization advocates claimed that marijuana is safer than tobacco and alcohol, and they have pointed out how hypocritical it is for a nation to allow alcohol marketing and sales while banning marijuana. According to the CDC, “Tobacco use is considered the leading preventable cause of death in the U.S. and chronic alcohol use has been linked to everything from heart disease to cancer.” Also, “One in 10 deaths among working-age adults can be attributed to excessive alcohol use and alcohol poisonings account for more than 2,000 American deaths every year.”

Some Facts About Smoke

  • Because marijuana smokers rarely chain smoke, they tend to smoke less.
  • Tobacco contains nicotine; marijuana does not contain nicotine.
  • Nicotine hardens arteries and is responsible for much of the heart disease caused by tobacco.
  • Marijuana contains THC, which is a bronchial dilator. It acts as a cough drop and opens up your lungs helping to clear smoke and dirt out of your lungs.
  • Nicotine does the opposite—it makes your lungs bunch up making it difficult to cough up anything.
  • Studies have shown that marijuana smoking does increase your chances of getting cancer.
  • Regular users of marijuana (up to a joint a day for seven years) have no discernible impairment in lung capacity from non-smokers. In fact, pot smokers had slightly better lung performance. The reason may be that inhaling and holding in marijuana smoke is similar to a pulmonary function test giving pot smokers an edge over those who smoke cigarettes.

If you’re looking for a bud tender job in Denver, please contact Ms. Mary Staffing today.

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