Tobacco and Cannabis

Why do so many British cannabis smokers become addicted to tobacco?

Whilst cannabis on it’s own is a relatively safe substance in the UK it appears that its use has become firmly linked with that most dangerous of addictive drugs, tobacco.
It is believed that over 80% of cannabis users in Britain smoke tobacco either mixed with cannabis or by its self in cigarettes when they finally realise they are tobacco addicts.

In Britain cannabis is usually smoked in Joints.
That is a rollup cigarette with a bit of hashish mixed in.
The new smoker then starts to associate the high produced by the tobacco and cannabis mix as that from cannabis alone. Unfortunately tobacco can addict within as little as three tries and new users then start to 'need' a joint not realising that it is the tobacco addiction kicking in. One will often see a new user of cannabis starting to smoke it at regular intervals in order to keep up their nicotine levels.
Unfortunately this will mean that they are stoned all the time and whilst cannabis is a wonderful recreational substance it is nevertheless not good for anyone to be stoned all the time.

It is of the utmost importance that every cannabis smoker understands that tobacco is not only a more addictive drug than heroin but is responsible each year for 140,000 deaths in the UK, 1 million deaths in the EU and 4.9 million deaths (560 an hour) world-wide.
Remember here cannabis is probably the safest intoxicant known to man. It less addictive than sugar or chocolate and it has never been proved to have caused a single death in several thousand years of use.

So why do cannabis smokers chose to risk their lives like this?

The reasons are largely historic.
Firstly, the original cannabis imported into Britain was resin, usually called Hashish, rather than the flowers, otherwise known as Pot, Grass, Bud or Marijuana. As Cannabis is illegal, smugglers obviously prefer to have as small a package of goods as possible and Hashish is far less bulky than Pot.
This is a function of prohibition just as with alcohol prohibition where bulky beer and wine were replaced with concentrated Bathtub Gin.
Then again, on it's own resin does not burn very well and needs to be kept alight by some external means. Tobacco fills this function rather well when rolled into a joint. The low quality Hashish usually found in Britain is also very harsh to smoke and tobacco helps to smooth out the rough taste.

Why mix a Killer with a Thriller?

I have no intention of here of insulting those who chose to smoke cannabis with tobacco.
But I personally became addicted to tobacco through smoking joints. I know of many others the same.
It took me years of struggle to give up tobacco.
Many of my friends still have not succeeded and we all know about the premature death of tobacco smokers.
Both my parents for a start.

I only want to help prolong your life and improve your health.

Toke Safe.
Cannabis and Tobacco Don’t mix!

Secondly as cannabis is illegal the safer ways of smoking it such as a pipe, bong, water pipe or the very safe but almost unknown in this country ‘Vaporiser’ can become incriminating evidence for the authorities.
Whereas a joint is totally disposable, one can even at last resort eat it.
But again whilst cannabis is safe to eat, eating tobacco can make you very ill.

So what can be done to save the UK’s cannabis smokers from this deadly addiction?

The first and most obvious is to legalise and regulate the cannabis supply. Then not only will the cannabis its self be of better quality but users can be encouraged to use it in safer ways. However this may, in spite of some recent hopeful signs, take a while.
The other thing we can do is to warn new users of the dangers of tobacco addiction. Ask them to avoid smoking joints and show them that there are other far safer methods of consumption.
As for long term cannabis users, most who smoke joints by now will have realised that they are tobacco addicts. Many have succeeded in giving up tobacco, often after a long struggle. These users now say that they enjoy their cannabis use more and find that they use far less of it. This is probably because they no longer smoke to keep up their nicotine levels.
Others say that they get high now, not stoned and they save money, feel fitter and don't smell!
Many who have given up mixing in tobacco say that the famous "Stoned and Glued to the Couch" effect disappears and they get a lot more done.
Some however will continue to deny the addiction and justify it by saying they find joints with tobacco smoother or milder so they can it smoke all day – nicotine maintenance again! The problem here is that tobacco addiction is such an insidious habit that trying to convince the addict is often pointless.
On the other hand there is hope because tobacco is the only drug where the long-term trend is down. Thanks largely to some very effective advertising from the Health Education Boards.

What can we do to help?

Setting an example for a start. Refuse to share a joint stating you don’t want to end up a tobacco addict, ask if they don’t mind using a safer method. You can get a pipe for 99p.
Then why not show the tobacco user that unlike them, you can have a cannabis free week. After all cannabis is not addictive and giving up for a week will not effect someone who does not use tobacco. But joint rollers will find they can’t. They will need that joint. Which is when you can show them, that it spite of their denials, it is the tobacco that is the monkey on their backs.
If they still don't believe you get them to try one week on cannabis and one week on tobacco.
Showing friends safer way to smoke or even showing them some of the cooking methods from recipes on the web will also help.

Some tobacco free methods

Cooking with the Herb.

There are many web sites with recipes. Just do a search on Google for cannabis cooking. The main fact to remember is the active parts of cannabis are not soluble in water. One needs to use oil, alcohol or a similar solvent. Another important fact is that heat destroys these active ingredients so the temperature should be kept below 150 ⁰ C (300 ⁰ F) Butter is best to use for cooking and all the normal recipes one would make using butter work well with 'canna-butter'. For example, you might like to try Cannan Chocs!

If you must smoke.

Use a Vaporiser .
Or a pipe.
Or have you tried the Pin & Glass with Hashish?
Get a pint glass, a pin and something to hold the pin. A bit of BlueTac or a match box for example. Now mount the pin so that the point is upwards. Stick a small bit of hash on the tip, light it and pop the glass on top. It should now go out and start to smoke. Now slide the glass to the edge of the table so that it is slightly over it. Then put your mouth to the opening and suck the smoke out.
You can also try the "Bucket" bong!

What is your favourite way to have a tobacco free toke?

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See their TOKE PURE page.

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Famous Cannabis Users. Notable 'Drug War' reformers. The British Drugs Debate. Return to The SLATTS main page Please have a look at "Parents Against Lethal Addictive Drugs" (PALAD) site.