Tobacco is more harmful than Marijuana

Since I've already addressed the lethalness of the main chemicals in each Marijuana and Tobacco in my previous post, I will be using this round to address the harmful effects of the plants in question and their primary chemicals. I will address in two steps. Harms in the short term (during usage) and harms in the long term (this will include withdrawl issues). I will also point out that it is not my opinion that marijuana is worse than tobacco in every measure, and that if you focus on individuals points (such as the withdrawls), than tobacco is indeed more harmful. However, I encourage everyone to look at tobacco and marijuana in there entirety to see which "whole-package" is more harmful. Tobacco and Nicotine, both short term and long term. One thing that makes it difficult to find accurate articles on the effect of nicotine, is that it is so closely tied to smoking, and so the effects of smoking are often attributed to the tobacco and nicotine, even though they are not caused by them (see my reasoning for that in the second round). That said, I will try to give the effects of nicotine and how that effect is created in the body. Nicotine works in the body in a similar way as most drugs. It attaches itself to receptors in the brain and causes a release of dopamine (which makes you feel good). Since nicotine was actually commonly used long before we understood the makeup of the brain, the receptors that it attaches itself it have actually been named after it, the nicotinic acetylcholin receptors [1]. When nicotine binds with them, it causes them to send a signal to their partner to "release the dopamine" (in my best Mr. Burns voice). This dopamine has its own list of effects, depending the amount of dopamine released. They include, mostly, increased peeing (caused by increased blood flow to the kidneys and causes sodium levels to drop), increased heartrate, and at high enough levels, increased blood pressure from restricted blood vessels (this undoes the increased kidney functoin, as the contrasting blood vesels can pinch off blood supply to the kindeys) [7]. Nicotine also connects to the splanchnic nerves to release epinephrine and connects to ganglion receptors to release adrenaline. The adrenaline also causes increased heart rates and blood pressure. The adrenaline also causes the user to increase metabolism and decreases the desire to eat (since the body's purpose for adrenaline is to give sudden energy in a life or death situation, you wouldn't want to be reminded that you are hungry when trying not to become food yourself). The release of dopamine and adrenaline are likely what causes nicotine to have a lower LD50 than THC (since dopamine and adrenaline work agaisnt each other). Long term effects of high dopamine amounts in the body put extra strain on the kindeys and heart, and the extended adrenaline that would come from long term nicotine usage also puts extra strain on the heart. This is one of the effects from smoking which IS a fault of nicotine, as opposed to most of the lung issues which are from the various other chemicals in the smoke. When frequently used, the nicotine actually damages the receptors in the brain (as do all drugs) so that they will not release any of the chemicals (dopamine or adrenaline) without the nicotine acting as a middle agent. This causes the user to "crave" the nicotine so that it can get those levels of dopamine back up (causing an addiction). This also means that when a person is cut off from nicotine (like when someone tries to quit), they experience depression as the body does not release dopamine on its own at as high of a level as it should otherwise. This is actually seen with nerely all activities that raise the dopamine levels, such as all drugs, and even sex (see sex addictions). Moving on to Marijuana and THC, both short term effects and long term effects. THC, when it enters the body, binds with the cannabinoid receptors in the brain (we apparently names most of our brain after drugs, lol) in the centeral nervous system and in the immune system [2]. By doing so, they also cause the brain to release dopamine, and so causes some of the same issues with nicotine. The general feel good effects (relaxation and euphoria), as well as the same side effects (increased kidney blood flow at low levels, increased heart rate at high levels). However, THC does not cause a release of adrenaline, but it does cause the brain cells to release calcium ions (which the brain uses for electrical signals). These calcium ions cause a distortion in the brains ability to transfer data (thus causing at low, typical doses, short term memory loss, to alterations of space and time, to alteration of the senses, to at high levels, full blown hallucinations). And since THC and its metabolites are fat soluble, they stay in one's system for a much longer time, and when a large amount of fat is burned (like in exercising), a large amount can be released, causing secondary highs. Long term usage can lead to similar effects as long term nicotine, in that it can put extra strain on the kidneys (from the dopamine) and even stain on the heart (but not as much as nicotine, since the nicotine has the adrenaline effect adding to that). But the messing with the calcium ions in the brain can have long term effects to perminately damaging short term memory and perception (if large doses are taken for a long time). The addictive effects of marijuana are about the same as they are for nicotine. The only difference is how we measure "light usage" and "heavy usage." Since a "light smoker" would be someone that smokes 15 cigarettes a day (the average smoker in the USA smokes 28 cig a day). However, if someone was smoking 15 joints a day of marijuana, they would probably be one of the heaviest smokers in the world. And they would also experience harsher withdrawls than the individual smoking 15 cigarettes a day if both tried to quit cold turkey. Many of the links were not used for specific sentences, so I didn't reference them to any particular sentence, but here they are. Thank you, [1] http://en.wikipedia.org... [2] http://en.wikipedia.org... [3] http://www.nida.nih.gov... [4] http://learnmem.cshlp.org... [5] http://articles.sfgate.com... [6] http://www.drugs.com... [7] http://en.wikipedia.org...