* Source is the packaging I’ve just read for a pack of tobacco in the UK which says it has 70 cancer causing substances
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I like campfires. I love the smell of wood smoke. (Not so much when it blows straight in my face.)
Wood smoke is loaded with cancer-causing stuff, but I don’t breath in too much. With tobacco, you are pulling smoke into your lungs, several times a day, every day, for years.
Tobacco isn’t too bad. Nicotine is barely bad at all. Breathing smoke is **definitely** bad, regardless of whether it’s tobacco, random leaves, or really any source. Smoke is *bad* and your lungs are extremely sensitive to it.
Smoking cannabis is just as bad and damaging as smoking cigarettes, but since people who use cannabis generally don’t smoke 20 joints per day it’s less of an issue in practice.
Tobacco isn’t too bad. Nicotine is barely bad at all. Breathing smoke is **definitely** bad, regardless of whether it’s tobacco, random leaves, or really any source. Smoke is *bad* and your lungs are extremely sensitive to it.
Smoking cannabis is just as bad and damaging as smoking cigarettes, but since people who use cannabis generally don’t smoke 20 joints per day it’s less of an issue in practice.
Leaves are made of chemicals. When they are burned, the chemicals do a bunch of reactions and recombine into other chemicals. Many of those chemicals are known to cause cancer and they exist in all smoke. Smoking is really bad for you because it’s addictive so you’re constantly re-exposing your lungs to damaging smoke and over time they lose their ability to clean themselves. Breathing flour or sawdust every day will kill you just like smoking but you don’t go out for an sawdust-huffing break 20 times a day because your brain doesn’t get a reward for breathing sawdust.
Leaves are made of chemicals. When they are burned, the chemicals do a bunch of reactions and recombine into other chemicals. Many of those chemicals are known to cause cancer and they exist in all smoke. Smoking is really bad for you because it’s addictive so you’re constantly re-exposing your lungs to damaging smoke and over time they lose their ability to clean themselves. Breathing flour or sawdust every day will kill you just like smoking but you don’t go out for an sawdust-huffing break 20 times a day because your brain doesn’t get a reward for breathing sawdust.
Leaves are made of chemicals. When they are burned, the chemicals do a bunch of reactions and recombine into other chemicals. Many of those chemicals are known to cause cancer and they exist in all smoke. Smoking is really bad for you because it’s addictive so you’re constantly re-exposing your lungs to damaging smoke and over time they lose their ability to clean themselves. Breathing flour or sawdust every day will kill you just like smoking but you don’t go out for an sawdust-huffing break 20 times a day because your brain doesn’t get a reward for breathing sawdust.
Marketing people have spent millions convincing people that natural stuff is great and good for you while chemicals are bad and hazardous. Same with organic products. The fact that they convince people to buy these products and likely pay a premium is proof of their effectiveness.
There are many natural items that will kill (cyanide is a simple natural substance present in many stone fruit pits–three crushed cherry pits contain enough cyanide to kill a person) or cause cancer. While many point out that the cancer causing elements of tobacco are due to burning it and inhaling deeply, this is only partially true. People using smokeless tobacco are known to be at higher risk of mouth cancers–so at least some of the carcinogenic compounds are naturally occurring in the unburnt leaf.
TL/DR–Natural does not mean safe or healthy.
Marketing people have spent millions convincing people that natural stuff is great and good for you while chemicals are bad and hazardous. Same with organic products. The fact that they convince people to buy these products and likely pay a premium is proof of their effectiveness.
There are many natural items that will kill (cyanide is a simple natural substance present in many stone fruit pits–three crushed cherry pits contain enough cyanide to kill a person) or cause cancer. While many point out that the cancer causing elements of tobacco are due to burning it and inhaling deeply, this is only partially true. People using smokeless tobacco are known to be at higher risk of mouth cancers–so at least some of the carcinogenic compounds are naturally occurring in the unburnt leaf.
TL/DR–Natural does not mean safe or healthy.
Marketing people have spent millions convincing people that natural stuff is great and good for you while chemicals are bad and hazardous. Same with organic products. The fact that they convince people to buy these products and likely pay a premium is proof of their effectiveness.
There are many natural items that will kill (cyanide is a simple natural substance present in many stone fruit pits–three crushed cherry pits contain enough cyanide to kill a person) or cause cancer. While many point out that the cancer causing elements of tobacco are due to burning it and inhaling deeply, this is only partially true. People using smokeless tobacco are known to be at higher risk of mouth cancers–so at least some of the carcinogenic compounds are naturally occurring in the unburnt leaf.
TL/DR–Natural does not mean safe or healthy.
Two or three main issues . . .
* The plant grows chemical defenses against things that prey on it. This is why there are chemicals like nicotine that kill insects (and us).
* Drawing burning hot smoke into your lungs does physical damage to the cells, and many never get fully fixed, and can become cancerous.
* Chemicals in the smoke are changed from what they were in the live plant, and these are often very reactive and can do cell damage. Some enter the cells and damage DNA.
* Tobacco is not the only substance in cigarettes. Some additional chemicals are added to make smoking more addictive.
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