Skunk Alert: Marijuana is Worse than Tobacco

Part 1 of a 9 part series

The long term effects of smoking tobacco lead to illnesses that claim 480,000 lives a year, so the harms of tobacco cannot be minimized. However, for all of the reasons cited above regarding brain damage and loss of IQ, impaired memory and motivation, mental illness, driver safely, depression, anxiety, suicidal tendencies, and myriad health problems, the short term harms are far worse and still have lasting impacts, like tobacco. What is worse, more teens are smoking marijuana today than tobacco, and in many cases concealing it by using e-cigarettes which don’t emit smoke or an odor. Random or suspicion-based drug testing can be used for early identification of a problem, and as a deterrent. Hair analysis in particular, with a 90-day window of detection, is highly recommended, albeit urine and saliva should be used as well. The intent is not to catch and punish, but to protect and keep kids in the system, safe and drug-free.

Skunk is the name for today’s high potency marijuana.

See next post in the series: Marijuana Doubles the Risk of Traffic Deaths