There are many studies that report
on the harmful health effects of smoking tobacco, such as cancer, respiratory
disease (bronchitis, emphysema and asthma) and heart disease.
Even thou Marijuana is still
deemed illegal by Federal regulations in the USA, most health professionals
consider its consumption to bring more good than harm to the adult consumers. Actually,
there is a good chance that weed become legal for recreational purposes in
Colorado and Washington States after the November votes. A new poll, conducted by Huffington Post and
YouGov, has support for marijuana legalization at an astounding 59% amongst all
Americans – the largest support yet recorded in a nationwide poll. Only 26% of
respondents responded that marijuana should remain illegal.
Public opinion shift shows clearly that Marijuana legalization is just
matter of time, but getting out to the consumer market may highlight a question
if mixing tobacco and marijuana is a good idea. While is not very popular in
the USA and Australia, the habit of mixing weed with tobacco and rolling
“spliffs” is widely spread
over the Europe.
Why people are mixing weed
with tobacco?
Some people just like the taste,
other claim that the THC effect stronger when these two components are smoked
together. While these are two subjective reasons, there are some which can be
considered more generic:
·
Since Marijuana is illegal, and tobacco is
legal, hiding weed in the
hand-rolled cigarette or pipes might be quite achievable, especially with
either aromatic pipe tobacco or a strong fresh hand rolled tobacco, while
smoking in public. Usually, mixing is arranged in 2:1 ratio with 2 for tobacco
to 1 for cannabis, with some users placing extra tobacco on each end of the cigarette.
·
Marijuana
is burning somewhat slower when it is mixed with tobacco.
·
Smokers
usually notice that smoking weed straight gets them stoned rather quirkier than
for the case when weed is mixed with tobacco, allowing slow down and come
gradually to a nice stone.
·
When
mixed with tobacco, Marijuana evaporation efficiency slightly increases.
In latest study cannabis material
has been mixed with tobacco in order to determine whether tobacco has an
influence on the amount of and ratio between tetrahydrocannabinol (THC),
cannabigerol (CBG), and cannabinol (CBN) administered while smoking. A
small-scale smoking machine has been used and cannabis mixed with various
ratios of tobacco was smoked. The trapped smoke was quantitatively analyzed by
high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and the amount of THC, CBG, and
CBN was determined for each cigarette.
It has been found that tobacco
increases the amount of THC inhaled per gram of cannabis from 32.70 ± 2.29 mg/g
for a 100% cannabis cigarette to 58.90 ± 2.30 mg/g for a 25% cannabis
cigarette. This indicates that tobacco increases the vaporization efficiency of
THC by as much as 45% under the conditions tested.
Negative effect of smoking marijuana
mixed with tobacco
International
reports have found specific links between smoking both tobacco and marijuana, claiming
that smoking both marijuana and tobacco increases health risks rather than
smoking each alone.
Mixing tobacco with marijuana is
polydrug use. Nicotine is an addictive drug and the combination of these two
substances increases exposure to tar and other carcinogens, causing greater risks
to the lungs, respiratory organs as well as the cardiovascular system.
Marijuana smokers are also at risk
of developing nicotine dependence if they mix tobacco with their marijuana.
Compared to tobacco cigarette
smokers, people who smoke marijuana typically:
- Inhale more smoke (two-thirds larger puff volume);
- Inhale the smoke deeper into the lungs (one-third greater depth of inhalation);
- Hold the smoke in the lungs for longer time periods (up to four times longer).
This results in the lungs being
exposed to:
- Greater amounts of carbon monoxide and other smoke irritants;
- Greater retention of tar in the respiratory tract.
Both carbon monoxide and tar
increase the risks of a range of health problems including respiratory tract
infections, bronchitis and lung cancer.
While there are no any known
direct interactions on neuronal level between tobacco and marijuana because
these two drugs produce two different types of neuronal signaling (THC effects
the endocannabinoid system, while nicotine mostly effects cholinergic neurons),
co-consumption may lead to other negative effects (which are mostly
behavioral), like the following:
- The two drugs have opposite effects on cognition. While nicotine increases cognition, THC causes cognition to get decreased.
- Both drugs are anti-anxiety, and their combinatorial effects may increase dependence.
- Nicotine is an eating suppressant, while THC induces eating. Co-consumption can negate the effects on eating.
- Taking both drugs simultaneously can affect the withdrawal symptoms.
- Marijuana has been reported to partially block the nicotine receptors, so the tobacco smokers may increase they daily consumption of the cigarettes to keep the familiar tonus.
- Cannabis contains more than THC it has a larger variety of cannabinoids some of which are identified. Each breed/strain of cannabis plant contains different levels of different cannabinoids and no matter how much research has been done, no one is anywhere close to finding out all the possible interactions that are possible with different cannabinoid combinations.
- Most smokers reported that mixing weed and tobacco in a pipe causes the smoke to get hotter and harsher, affecting the positive perception. Pure weed is still hot, but feels smoother and easier to hold in.
Summary
While there were no independent researches
on the topic, we still consider marijuana and tobacco as undesirable mix, based
on all information available from professionals and regular users’ feedbacks.
Sources and Additional Information:
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