is marijuana smoke “healthier†than tobaccosmoke? hi everyone, crystal dilworth your friendlynicotine researcher here for dnews. so everybody knows that smoking tobacco causescancer, and second hand smoke is really bad for you too. the mixture of gases and particlesthat make up tobacco smoke contains more than 7,000 different chemical compounds. it’sestimated that over 250 of these chemicals are harmful, and at least 70 of them causecancer. but cancer isn’t the only negative effectof smoking. exposure to tobacco smoke immediately affects the heart, blood vessels, and bloodcirculation. many smokers die of heart disease, not cancer. for instance, in california atobacco control program has been associated
with preventing 59,000 deaths resulting fromheart disease between 1989 and 1997. this is partially because our bodies respondto secondhand smoke the same way it responds to mechanical injury, by increasing our bloodplatelets. when these specialized blood cells clump together, they stop us from bleeding.but when platelets are activated in the absence of a gushing wound, they can aggregate inunhealthy ways that cause strokes and heart disease. but for those of you who think smoke fromthose “other kinds of cigarettes†is probably healthier (after all, it’s totally organic).think again! at least when it comes to heart disease, smoke is smoke whether it also containsnicotine or thc.
nicotine, the addictive component of tobacco,and tetrahydrocannabinol (thc), the psychoactive component of marijuana, are present in secondhand smoke. so even if you don’t want to be, you are exposing yourself to these compoundsby just being around people smoking either substance. however, a new study suggests thatit’s the other compounds in the smoke that have a negative effect, at least, on yourcardiovascular health. researchers used a cigarette-smoking machineto expose rats to either tobacco or marijuana smoke and measured the function of their mainleg artery using ultrasound. blood vessel dilation was recorded before smoke exposureand at 10 minute and 40 minute time points post-exposure and it was observed that bloodvessel function dropped 70 percent after 30
minutes of exposure to either smoke. when scientists repeated the study, this timewith tobacco that didn’t contain nicotine, or marijuana that didn’t contain thc, thesame drop in function was observed. so its not the “buzz†or the “high†that’llgive you a heart attack, it’s the smoke itself. aside: don’t worry, they used a negativecontrol, rats exposed to plain old air didn’t show reduced blood vessel function at all.whew! these results lead me to suspect that anytype of smoke could cause vasoconstriction and reduced blood vessel function. so stayaway from house fires. and when camping, consider
that if the sugar from all those marshmallowsyou’re roasting doesn’t give you diabetes, the smoke from the campfire is probably increasingyour risk for heart disease. so stay in school kids, don’t smoke, don’tdo drugs, and just say “no†to camping. what do you think? is marijuana smoke justas bad as tobacco smoke? subscribe to d news and let us know in the comments down below!you can also come find me on twitter at polycrystalhd