People generally don’t smoke as many marijuana cigarettes as tobacco cigarettes. Wouldn’t smoking fewer marijuana cigarettes mean that the adverse health effects aren’t as significant?
A few studies indicate that inhaled smoke from any burning plant product causes the same type of damage to lungs and throat as cigarette smoke. The way marijuana is smoked contributes to this damage. Although people who smoke marijuana generally smoke fewer marijuana cigarettes than people who smoke tobacco cigarettes, they tend to inhale more smoke per puff and hold it in their lungs for as much as four times longer. Because of this, some estimate that smoking 3 to 4 marijuana cigarettes per day is roughly equivalent to smoking 20 tobacco cigarettes. Marijuana users may have many of the same health problems as cigarette smokers, including an increased risk of cancer.
