Marijuana vs. Tobacco
It's true that both marijuana and tobacco contain toxic chemicals such as tar, carbon monoxide, and cyanide. But marijuana smoke has more cancer-causing chemicals than tobacco. As stated before, it contains more than 400 harmful chemicals, which includes cancer-causing carcinogens. Marijuana smoke contains some of the same carcinogens and toxic chemicals as tobacco, but in higher concentrations. The amount of marijuana smoke inhaled per puff is two thirds larger than a typical puff of a tobacco cigarette. The reason behind this is that marijuana is smoked differently than tobacco. Marijuana smoke is inhaled deeper into the lungs, and is held there up to four times as long. These long drags force the rapid absorption THC by the lungs, the active ingredient in marijuana. As a result, the toxic chemicals in marijuana smoke can do much more damage to the lungs than cigarette smoke.