Ask #1 Muchacho - The Price of Staying Green
Friday, March 14, 2008 at 10:42AM Ask #1 Muchacho is a weekly column which features real questions from real readers, and answers by LGT's own #1 Muchacho. If you would like to submit a question to be featured in this column, Contact Us Here.
#1 Muchacho,
I love blazing trees on a daily basis. As soon as i get home from work I pack a nice fat bowl and spark it up to unwind. Squares keep warning me about the side effects of smoking weed. I can't tell you how many times I've heard "Smoking one joint is like smoking a pack of cigarettes?" Is smoking weed really as detrimental to my health as chain smoking a pack of Newport lights?
I thought cigarettes contained way more toxins than weed. I'm a little confused about the differences. If smoking weed is really as bad as they say, then what are my options? My brother says he has the hook up with medicinal weed butter in Cali, but when the hell is that gonna start happening here in Massholeachusetts?
Also, is it true that there has never been a recorded death linked directly to the use of marijuana or is that just a fable? I've always wanted to know the truth about this stuff, but I'm too lazy to look it up myself. Its hard to know what to believe anymore.
Peace,
Rollingstoned
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Stoned,
To answer your question completely, lets first go over some basic facts and myths about the affects of both marijuana and cigarettes.
Fact - Marijuana Buds contain 1/3 less tar than tobacco cigarettes.
Fact - Marijuana does not contain nicotine which is the active addictive ingredient in cigarettes.
Myth - You can overdose on marijuana
The truth is that not only has no one ever died from ingesting marijuana, there has never been a single case of lung cancer linked to smoking marijuana. People who say marijuana is more dangerous than cigarettes are probably basing their judgment on years of outdated government propaganda; or just simply uninformed.
Also, regular marijuana smokers smoke far less marijuana than regular cigarette smokers smoke cigarettes. Honestly, when is the last time you smoked 20-40 joints in a day? Actually, you probably did on some random April 20th when you made some stupid plan to smoke a joint every hour on the hour; in celebration of the national stoner's holiday, a date extracted from the police code for marijuana use; 420. Sorry, stoner culture starts to annoy me after a while.
O.k. back on track. You're probably wondering if marijuana contains tar (even though considerably less cigarettes) then how come it never causes cancer? Well, according to U.S. Surgeon General C. EveretteKoop (in 1990) radioactivity, not tar, accounts for at least 90% of all smoking related lung cancer.
Tobacco crops grown in the United States are fertilized with phosphates which contain radium 226.
Also soils have a natural radium 226 content which breaks down into lead 210 & polonium 210. Studies have shown that lead 210 and polonium 210 deposits accumulate in the bodies of people exposed to cigarette smoke. Polonium 210 is the only component of cigarette smoke which has produced tumors by itself in inhalation experiments with animals.
As far as your question: will Massachusetts will ever decriminalize marijuna? I wouldn't hold your breath. Even though Massachusetts is usually on the forefront of liberal movements, until the federal government legalizes, regulates, or decriminalizes marijuana, the States will always be at the mercy of the Federal government.
Even though marijuna has been made legal for medical use by Califonia and other states, they are still subject to federal raids and laws; which is bullshit because the government is suppose to be a vehicle to implement the voice of the people, and the people have spoken that they believe medical marijuana should be legal.
I hope I've cleared up some of the misconceptions floating around out there. If there is one thing to take away from this post, is that cigarettes are absolutely horrible for you. They serve no purpose and destroy your insides.
Smoking too much pot can make you moody and cause you to forget short term info, but the biggest danger you face from smoking weed is listening to The Grateful Dead and eating a full bag of Cheetos.
-#1
Ask #1 Muchacho is a weekly column which features real questions from real readers, and answers by LGT's own #1 Muchacho. If you would like to submit a question to be featured in this column, Contact Us Here.
Reader Comments (3)
thanks muchacho
dude, very informative. i like this a lot.
That's the tightness right there yo!