What are the risks of smoking recreational cannabis and what are the risks of smoking tobacco cigarettes? Let us take stock together, thinking not only of the health of those who smoke, but also of those who grow and process both leaves.
Cannabis: a way to relax and stimulate creativity
All over the world, millions of people smoke, whether tobacco or cannabis. However, the differences between the two “smokes” are radical. It is important to know them in order to change one’s approach to this subject. Knowing the pros and cons of cannabis and tobacco serves to make a more informed choice.
Recreational cannabis has always been used to seek motivation in work and helps to increase and release one’s creative energies. Throughout history, there are many cases of artists and writers who have been accompanied by the use of cannabis during their creative sessions. Authors and artists of all kinds, without any prejudice or fear. We know that Victor Hugo and Alexandre Dumas, Louis Armstrong and Cab Calloway, the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, David Bowie and Iggy Pop, Linda Blair and Neil Diamond used it… but the list is much longer! but the list is much longer! Especially in the world of music, where cannabis plays a very important relaxing role. It is also impossible not to mention Lewis Caroll’s Caterpillar in Alice in Wonderland smoking hookahs, an example of how smoking or using cannabis was once not seen as negatively as in modern times.
The recreational qualities of cannabis are appreciated and recognised in every corner of the world. Everyone reacts differently to recreational cannabis, yet it is well known, thanks to the experiences of the creative people who have made the history of the world great, that a little help can only help! Currently, however, it is not possible to carry out studies on how cannabis helps human creativity, due to the ban on its use in different parts of the world.
Tobacco: dangerous for those who smoke it and for those who grow it
Although in the short term tobacco gives a sense of peace and relaxation, it is in the long term that it can lead to a sense of depression, which hinders creativity and reduces motivation to work and one’s passions. Tobacco is more aggressive towards our organism, containing substances that inhibit and weaken it. Every year, more than eight million people worldwide die from smoking, active and passive.
However, the problems associated with tobacco are not only borne by consumers, but also by producers. The neurotoxin nicotine is absorbed through the skin when fresh, green leaves are wet. This particular absorption can cause acute nicotine poisoning, known as green tobacco disease. It causes dizziness, nausea, vomiting, headaches and muscle weakness. In contrast to smoking, which mainly affects the lungs, acute nicotine poisoning can affect the entire body.
However, the problem is not only related to human health, but also that of the planet. Tobacco cultivation, in fact, negatively affects the entire supply chain, right from the beginning of its cultivation. It starts with deforestation to make way for new fields, in Africa, Asia and South America; it goes on to soil leaching, as tobacco is a crop that needs a lot of water and nutrients; combustion, necessary to dry the tobacco leaves once harvested. And then them, the cigarettes, with filters made of plastic fibres, which are difficult to biodegrade and cleanse from the toxins of smoking. And of course the bad habits of smokers, who leave their cigarettes on the ground, unaware of the further damage they do to the environment around them. The tobacco problem consequently becomes global, impacting both us humans and the nature around us.
If the effects of tobacco consumption on human health are well known, those related to its cultivation are often unknown to the public, who do not realise how bad a habit this is for everyone. The WHO itself has repeatedly stated how crucial it is to make smokers, and others, aware of this. This is a particularly complicated situation, as tobacco moves over 700 billion dollars (data from 2017) worldwide, making it, along with the arms industry, one of the most profitable industries in the world.
The tobacco industry is growing steadily; the amount of tobacco harvested in the last fifty years has almost doubled. In 1963 it amounted to 4.3 tonnes while in 2013 it was close to 7.5 tonnes. The largest tobacco producers are China, Brazil and India. It is estimated that aligning all the world’s tobacco fields would result in an area larger than Switzerland. However, we are talking about land that is difficult to reuse after tobacco, because tobacco uses the soil aggressively and above all because a lot of chemicals are used during cultivation.
‘Tobacco is a consistently unsustainable product from start to finish“, says Sonja von Eichborn, co-author of the study “Tobacco: anti-social, unfair, environmentally harmful”. In fact, it kills the soil in which it is grown, it kills its workers and finally it kills its consumers. Although cannabis also requires special care during its cultivation, it is a more natural cultivation that does not introduce any additional chemicals, as is the case with tobacco.
The problem of chemicals used in tobacco cultivation should concern everyone, not just smokers. Indeed, the pesticides, fungicides and insecticides that are used in tobacco cultivation are often products that have been banned in Europe because they are highly dangerous to the health of flora and fauna. Europe is getting badly accustomed to exporting its environmental problems, delegating them to developing countries that are economically struggling in comparison to stronger countries.
Tobacco VS Cannabis: health and environment
It is essential to compare tobacco and cannabis, to understand the pros and cons of both. While cultivation is complicated for both, we know that cannabis cultivation does not involve the use of chemicals, while tobacco cultivation does. We know that cannabis is an ally to human creativity, while tobacco causes depression. Cannabis does not cause overdose deaths, whereas over 8 million people die from tobacco-related harm every year.
Yet, in the modern world, tobacco is good, while cannabis is bad. A view that was quite different in days gone by, but which has changed to keep pace with the economic growth of the tobacco industry.
It is crucial to change course, to make room for cannabis, both medical and recreational. It can be a great ally of mankind.
