Why is cigarette smoke legal if asbestos is illegal? They are both class 1 carcinogens.?
109667
Why would the government make it illegal, when they are making so much money off of it in taxes?
992805
They both are lethal long term. Smoking can be worse because it is harmful to women and their fetus if pregnant. Smoking causes many forms of cancer. Smoking in public is harmful to others. Smoking leaves behind a foul sent on clothes and areas heavily smoked in. Smoking causes constriction of arteries leading to many cardiologic and lung problems as well as other organ problems as a result. I can go on and on about smoking. Now McDonalds can cause some very serous health problems also. However, it largely depends on what you eat from McDonalds. In addition, daily exercise can help offset some of the detrimental effects of McDonalds food. Atherosclerosis is a major risk as well as obesity, which can all be offset by daily exercise. The documentary "Super Size It" shows how fast a heavy-duty diet from McDonalds can acutely damage your body. Damage once it is down to your body can be very difficult to recover from especially if you live a sedentary lifestyle. The tar and infiltrates that accumulate in your lungs from smoking will be expelled and your lungs will return to normal in about five years if you remain smoke free. However, cancer may have already have taken hold somewhere in the body. The same with a poor diet, many of the damage can be repaired over the course of years with the correct diet and exercise. However, once serous damage is done to the heart from arthrosclerosis there is no way to repair the damage to your heart. In short, smoking affects you and the others around you. A bad diet only affects you.\n\n\nHope this helps!
204702
Uh...because smoking causes cancer...and gasoline smells funny, I bet if we mixed hot cigarettes and gas fumes, we could start a fire. (gasoline will not ignite from heat alone, It needs to be fumed or misted with a spark or open flame to ignite.) And I agree with everything all the people up above said, its just not a good idea.
405326
Smoking at anytime effects your risk for lung cancer. But then again breathing nowadays does with all of the pollution and stuff in the air.
364196
Cigar can cause mouth cancer, and yes you dont inhale them, but cigarettes as well cause cancer..
965612
The formost reason that cigarettes are not illegal is because many companies are making a lot of money. Without these businesses, many people would lose jobs or not have very much money. If they were made illegal, many people may become poor, resulting in worsening economy. \nAnother reason is because they provide an item that uses many (over 100) chemicals that may otherwised not be used. What would we do with these chemicals if they were not used in the many, many cigarettes that are made daily? They may end up in dumps or other products that should not be altered because there is no place for them to be used. With all of these extra chemicals around, they may possibly be sold secretly, or in stores for a cheap price because they are so common. This would provide access for young people to easily buy them and experiment with them, and we wouldn't want that would we?\nMy last reason is freedom. The constitution allows freedom, and that includes freedom of choice. It is a person's sole responsibilty and choice if they decide to smoke cigarettes. Allowing them not to do so would be going against what our own people allowed for us to do.\nI hope this helps, good luck.
305270
Studies have shown that one "average" sized joint packs the same amount of toxins as an entire pack of cigarettes.  You can actually get lung disease faster (much faster) by smoking weed than by smoking cigarettes.\n\nWeed does actually cause lung cancer, asthma and emphysema as well as COPD.\n\nFor a rush, just stop smoking for a few days then do it again.  Whew!\n\nDo people honestly think pot is grown without the use of chemicals and pesticides???  DUH!  Unless you're paying absolute TOP DOLLAR, you're getting chemicals.  And if you are paying top dollar, all that resin is going in your lungs...or stomach.
217515
Actually, marijuana contains cancer-causing agents too. It is not legal in Amsterdam per se, but the laws that prohibit it are not enforced in the 'coffee shops". They'll still bust you if you walk down the street smoking it. They figure its a better idea to tax it and keep it under controlled circumstances than prohibit it and fill up the jails with non-violent offenders.
177194
There is all sorts of conflicting data on this one, but here are a few sites with some info on studies:\n\nhttp://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/141891.stm\nhttp://www.webmd.com/content/article/23/1728_57309\nhttp://www.cancer.org/docroot/CRI/content/CRI_2_4_2X_What_are_the_risk_factors_for_lung_cancer_26.asp\n\nI tend to lean toward the yes side, I just can't picture smoking being ok for the lungs, and the smoke does have carcinogens in it.
380703
We drive our cars; they add more gases to the air and make extra pollution. What about factories and machines that do the same?\nThese all just more danger added to the smoking danger, non smokers have the effect of the pollution only but smokers have the both of pollution and smoking.\n\nThe environment and biological inheritance effect smokers more than anyone else because smokers already effected by smoking habits which is a bad habit. It is Better for smoker to quit smoking  and better for us to do our best to keep our environment with no pollution or at least less pollution
996643
No, if booze and cigerettes just came out today, they would be just as illegal as pot. They are all bad for you. Also, the government makes too much money by keeping it illegal. If they said it was ok, they couldn't keep all the money, cars, etc., that they took away from all the people that they catch.
1131373
The physical health risks associated with both cigarettes and  marijuana are caused by the same thing: the carcinogens, or cancer causing agents, in the smoke. Nicotine and THC are the drugs, respectively, ingested by the smoke. It has been shown in studies that an unfiltered ingestion of tobacco OR marijuana is roughly three times as harmful as a typical filtered cigarette. However, the average cigarette smoker smokes far more individual puffs in a given time period than the average recreational marijuana smoker. \n\nWhen looked at on a larger scale, cigarettes outnumber ALL other drugs, including narcotics, in related health problems and associated deaths. These statistics are precipitated by the popularity and highly addictive nature of cigarettes, as well what is generally considered ruthless, misleading and unethical advertising and business policy by the tobacco industry.
168346
Second hand smoke is a known carcinogen.  It is also known to have other effects (increased risk of asthama, reduced immune system, etc.).  And it stinks.\n\nThat said, it is not a higher risk than smoking.  Still, I would try and find a way to deal with it.
263020
Tobacco is a poison. If enough of it is ingested in can kill.
804892
Asbestos is not technically an element (as in not on the periodic chart), but is a known cancer causing agent and is no longer in use - at least in the U.S.
141993
The same thing that first hand smoke does, to a lesser degree.  This is true of ANYTHING smoked, because smoke is smoke, regardless of whether its been in some lungs first.
200687
you can get cancer at any age whether you smoke or not! Passive smoking (IE breathing in somebody's smoke) is just as bad as doing it yourself. The best thing to do is don't start or give it up NOW! It takes years for your lungs to get back to normal!