THC vs Nicotine

Essay by zooted504College, UndergraduateB+, November 2014

download word file, 2 pages 0.0

Yasin Pierce Marijuana (weed, pot, grass, ganja, cannabis) or tobacco, smoking is throughout every city and town in the United States. But why do people smoke, and is there a difference between smoking tobacco and illegally smoking marijuana? Marijuana use has long been debated by people around the world; from politicians not wanting to legalize it, to a couple of teens lighting up in the basement. Cigarettes on the other hand have been around since the early 1800s and didn't become popular in America until World War I & II. When it comes to similarities, it's clear: society frowns upon those who smoke cigarettes because it's bad for your health of both smoker and everyone around the smoker, while those who smoke weed are frowned upon as throwing away their lives because of an addiction. Although marijuana and cigarettes are both harmful to your health, marijuana is less damaging to the body and much better than cigarettes for your long term health.

People don't understand, but an early use of tobacco use may act as a "gateway" to future marijuana use. Tobacco is usually smoked as cigarettes or "roll your own" cigarettes and is actually more damaging to your lungs than marijuana. According to the CDC (Center for disease control and prevention), "Worldwide, tobacco use causes more than 5 million deaths per year, and current trends show that tobacco use will cause more than 8 million deaths annually by 2030." Cigarettes have been linked to almost 150 chemicals (maybe way over that number) and the biggest one that will keep you addicted is the nicotine. I think the biggest difference is that tobacco has nicotine in it and cannabis has what is called THC. Nicotine produces all the good feelings that reel people back for another cigarette or...