Marijuana vs. Cigarettes

Cigarettes are a mixture of the most dangerous substances for humans to consume and yet they are legal and mass produced so that everyone can smoke them. Marijuana on the other hand is nowhere nearly as harmful as cigarettes but is illegal and looked at as if it were far worse than cigarettes. It is long overdue that society recognizes the fact that marijuana is better for people than cigarettes by a mile. Cigarettes are extremely more addictive than marijuana, the usage patterns for marijuana cannot compare to cigarettes, and dozens of lethal chemicals are put into cigarettes whereas marijuana is a natural plant and doesn’t contain nearly as many chemicals.
According to the American Lung Association, every year about four hundred and thirty thousand Americans die alone from the effects of smoking cigarettes. Cigarette smoking also causes one in five deaths in the United States each year. Cigarette smoke is the major cause of lung cancer, emphysema, chronic bronchitis, heart disease, and stroke. Not only does cigarette smoke cause several health problems, it also is highly addictive and causes smokers to develop a highly unhealthy addiction to the nicotine in the cigarette. There are no scientific studies that prove that smoking a cigarette is not harmful to one’s health; in fact, there are several case studies proving that smoking cigarettes can be deadly to one’s health. The chemicals in within cigarette smoke themselves alone are enough to put one at risk for cancer development. Aside from nicotine, other carcinogens such as carbon monoxide, tar, formaldehyde, cyanide, and ammonia can be found in cigarette smoke. These chemicals combined leave someone who smokes at risk to develop lung cancer. In comparison, marijuana has not been linked to any of the above conditions or problems. There have been no direct links between smoking marijuana and any health conditions. Marijuana has been proven to have medicinal value and is currently used to help glaucoma