by Conner Malloy

Created on: June 07, 2009   Last Updated: June 16, 2009

You could take this question two ways. It could be asking the differences in cigarettes and cigars or Marijuana and Tobacco. Lets say it asks if the smoking of Marijuana and Tobacco in public places should be illegal. Tobacco and Marijuana have many differences. In actuality the only thing they have in common are the fact that they are a plant and they are smoked.

Marijuana is a plant (also known as Cannabis), that contains the drug THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), which causes psychoactive responses in the brain. Smoking Marijuana does not cause you to become physically addicted, although some regard it as a gateway drug, meaning that it will cause you to try harder drugs in the future. The active chemical in Marijuana, THC, causes hallucinogenic effects and should not be used while driving or operating machinery.

Tobacco is also a plant, but contains the chemical Nicotine. Nicotine is a stimulant that causes the smoker to feel relaxed. The Nicotine however, causes Tobacco to be physically addictive which once addicted, causes daily consumption. Although Nicotine does not cause health defects, cigarettes and cigars are made with many carcinogens (cancer-causing substances) that are used to improve the taste and smoothness of the smoke. These carcinogens are released in the smoke while burning, which causes the smoke to be dangerous to the smoker and nearby people. This is why smoking Tobacco causes health issues such as cancer in the throat and lung area. The THC in marijuana on the other hand is not physically addictive, nor does it contain carcinogens which makes the smoke completely safe to those around the smoker.

The illegality of Marijuana is mainly a misconception. As seen in this propaganda http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2d/K illerdrug.jpg, you can tell that Marijuana use was a misconception when going through illegality. None of the statements on that paper are proven to be true through laboratory results. Tobacco has only now just started being prohibited. Back in the fifty's you could smoke cigarettes wherever whenever, but when Tobacco was blamed for causing health defects, birth defects and cancer; people started to revolt against its uses in public places.

In the end this is an opinionated question and only your opinion can only be right for you. As for me I side with it being legal, for people should be able to inhale what they want regardless of others beliefs.

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