Written by: Patrick Thompson
It’s tough to admit that one of the most popular methods of smoking has noticeable negative effects on your body. When smoking a blunt you not only inhale your medicine, you also inhale, tobacco, carcinogens, and whatever chemicals are used to give the wraps their flavor.
To begin with, any type of smoke is harmful for our lungs. Regardless of what kind of smoke it is, almost all-combustible matter releases carcinogens and toxins when burned. To add insult to injury, marijuana consumers try to deeply inhale marijuana smoke and hold it in their lungs for long periods of time—but they also inhale everything the blunt wrap is made of.
Unlike cigarettes, cigars have no filter and the smoke is not meant to be inhaled into our lungs. Cigarette filters screen out harmful chemicals like tar and nicotine making the smoke somewhat safer. But cigars and cigarillos have no filter. Consequently, the smoke is more hazardous to human health and harsher on the body. When you do the math you will find that smoking one cigar is the equivalent to smoking multiple cigarettes.
Researchers Ziva D. Cooper and Margaret Haney from Columbia University found that blunt smoking has “a distinct pattern of physiological effects”. Their study shows that blunts produce higher levels of carbon monoxide than a joint. Increased carbon monoxide levels decrease the blood oxygen carrying capacity, which may have respiratory effects such as increased heart rate. Blunt smoking leaves users at a higher risk of experiencing cardiovascular repercussions such as cardiovascular disease.
Not only are you damaging your cardiovascular system when smoking a blunt, you also are not getting the most out of your medicine. Blunt smoking is not the most efficient method of releasing cannabinoids into your body. Research shows that Joint smoking produces a higher percentage of THC plasma in your bloodstream than blunt smoking does. In return the effects from a joint are more potent. One might argue that this is not true and that from personal experience(s) the effects from smoking a blunt are stronger than the effects from a joint. However, those who believe in that argument are incorrect. What they experience is the head rush from the tobacco, not stronger medicinal effects.
You may want to reconsider smoking a blunt the next time you plan to light up. We are not saying you should go cold turkey and stop smoking blunts all together—although that would be optimal—all we are saying is that what seems insignificant now will add up and has potential to become a problem in the future—most likely a cardiovascular problem.
Blunts are nice but should be saved for occasions, science shows why you should make the switch to joints. Joint smokers face lower risks of negative cardiovascular effects while they get the most out of their medicine. A higher percentage of THC plasma means the effects from the medicine are greater felt by the user. And we can’t forget about the taste of a joint. Standard joint papers are unflavored and made of rag fibers (non-wood plant fibers) such as hemp and rice straw; In other words, joints are pure. In a joint the taste of the cannabis is not masked behind unknown chemicals like it may be in blunts. There are no additional, questionable, harmful substances in your smoke; it is just your medicine. I don’t know about you, but I like to know what I am putting into my body—smoking blunts is not able to provide consumers with that satisfaction.