More Info Nicotene vs Marijuana

[Earthbound]

Some more info on Nicotene vs Marijuana, for those of you who are wondering about Polonium 210 in pot smoke...

 

Produced as a public service by the University of Massachusetts

at Amherst Cannabis Reform Coalition

Research and written by Brian S. Julin

Corrections, comments, inquiries should be addressed to:

UMASS CANNABIS

S.A.O. Box #2

 

Tobacco crops grown in the United States are fertilized by law

with phosphates rich in radium 226. In addition, many soils have

a natural radium 226 content. Radium 226 breaks down into two long

lived 'daughter' elements -- lead 210 and polonium 210. These

radioactive particles become airborne, and attach themselves to the

fine hairs on tobacco leaves.

Studies have shown that lead 210 and polonium 210 deposits

accumulate in the bodies of people exposed to cigarette smoke.

Data collected in the late 1970's shows that smokers have three

times as much of these elements in their lower lungs as non

smokers. Smokers also show a greater accumulation of lead 210 and

polonium 210 in their skeletons,though no studies have been

conducted to link these deposits with bone cancer. Polonium 210 is

the only component of cigarette smoke which has produced tumors by

itself in inhalation experiments with animals.

When a smoker inhales tobacco smoke, the lungs react by

forming irritated areas in the bronchi. All smoke produces this

effect. However, although these irritated spots are referred to as

'pre-cancerous' lesions, they are a perfectly natural defense

system and usually go away with no adverse effects. Insoluble tars

in tobacco smoke can slow this healing process by adhering to

lesions and causing additional irritation. In addition, tobacco

smoke causes the bronchi to constrict for long periods of time,

which obstructs the lung's ability to clear itself of these

residues.

Polonium 210 and lead 210 in tobacco smoke show a tendency to

accumulate at lesions in specific spots, called bifurcations, in

the bronchi. When smoking is continued for an extended period of

time, deposits of radioactivity turn into radioactive 'hot spots'

and remain at bifurcations for years. Polonium 210 emits highly

localized alpha radiation which has been shown to cause cancer.

Since polonium 210 has a half life of 21.5 years, it can put an

ex-smoker at risk for years after he or she quits. Experiments

measuring the level of polonium 210 in victims of lung cancer found

that the level of 'hot spot' activity was virtually the same in

smokers and ex-smokers even though the ex-smokers had quit five

years prior to death.

Over half of the radioactive materials emitted by a burning

cigarette are released into the air, where they can be inhaled by

non-smokers. In addition to lead 210 and polonium 210 it has been

proven that tobacco smoke can cause airborne radioactive particles

to collect in the lungs of both smokers and non-smokers exposed to

second hand smoke. Original studies conducted on uranium miners

which showed an increased risk of lung cancer due to exposure to

radon in smokers have been re-run to evaluate the radioactive lung

cancer risk from indoor air radon. It turns out that tobacco smoke

works as a kind of 'magnet' for airborne radioactive particles,

causing them to deposit in your lungs instead of on furniture.

(Smoking indoors increases lung cancer risks greatly.)

It has been estimated that the total accumulated alpha

radiation exposure of a pack-a-day indoor smoker is 38 to 97 rad by

age 60. (Two packs a day yields up to 143 rad, and non-smokers

receive no more than 17 rad.) An exposure of 1 rad per year yields

a 1% risk of lung cancer (at the lowest estimate.)

Don't smoke. Or if you do, smoke lightly, outdoors, and

engage frequently in activities which will clear your lungs.

Imported India tobacco has less than half the radiation content of

that grown in the U.S.

Kicking the nicotine habit is not easy, and nobody has the

right to expect it of you. Often physical addictions are

reinforced by emotional and psychological needs. Filling or coming

to terms with those needs can give you the inspiration and added

freedom to succeed.

Most of all, inform yourself, even if the information is

disturbing. You are a lot less likely to be taken in by tobacco

advertising once you know the facts.

 

 

Nicotine, the active ingredient in tobacco smoke, has long

been known to be highly addictive. In fact, doctors and

pharmacologists are not in consensus as to which is more addictive

-- nicotine, or heroin. Physical addiction occurs when a chemical

becomes essential for the body or metabolism to function. In other

words, a substance is said to be physically addictive if extended

use results in a build up of tolerance in the body to the extent

that discontinuing use of the substance results in negative side

effects. Called "withdrawal symptoms," these consequences can

include anxiety, stress, trauma, depression and physical conditions

such as shakes or nausea. It is to avoid these consequences that

an addict will keep using his or her substance.

In addition to being addictive, nicotine is also a toxin (i.e.

lethal if ingested in sufficient quantities.) Nicotine has been

shown to have a negative effect on the heart and circulatory

systems, causing a constriction in veins and arteries which may

lead to a stroke or heart attack. In fact, nicotine is so

poisonous that smokers who ignore their doctor's advice and

continue to smoke while using dermal nicotine patches have managed

to overdose and die of heart seizure.

 

Many people think smoking marijuana is just as harmful as

smoking tobacco, but this is not true. Those who hold that

marijuana is equivalent to tobacco are misinformed. Due to the

efforts of various federal agencies to discourage use of

marijuana in the 1970's the government, in a fit of "reefer

madness," conducted several biased studies designed to return

results that would equate marijuana smoking with tobacco smoking,

or worse.

For example the Berkeley carcinogenic tar studies of the

late 1970's concluded that "marijuana is one-and-a-half times as

carcinogenic as tobacco." This finding was based solely on the

tar content of cannabis leaves compared to that of tobacco, and

did not take radioactivity into consideration. (Cannabis tars do

not contain radioactive materials.) In addition, it was not

considered that:

1) Most marijuana smokers smoke the bud, not the leaf, of

the plant. The bud contains only 33% as much tar as tobacco.

2) Marijuana smokers do not smoke anywhere near as much as

tobacco smokers, due to the psychoactive effects of cannabis.

3) Not one case of lung cancer has ever been successfully

linked to marijuana use.

4) Cannabis, unlike tobacco, does not cause any narrowing of

the small air passageways in the lungs.

In fact, marijuana has been shown to be an expectorant and

actually dilates the air channels it comes in contact with. This

is why many asthma sufferers look to marijuana to provide relief.

Doctors have postulated that marijuana may, in this respect, be

more effective than all of the prescription drugs on the market.

Studies even show that due to marijuana's ability to clear

the lungs of smog, pollutants, and cigarette smoke, it may

actually reduce your risk of emphysema, bronchitis, and lung

cancer. Smokers of cannabis have been shown to outlive non-

smokers in some areas by up to two years. Medium to heavy

tobacco smokers will live seven to ten years longer if they also

smoke marijuana.

Cannabis is also radically different from tobacco in that it

does not contain nicotine and is not addictive. The psychoactive

ingredient in marijuana, THC, has been accused of causing brain

and genetic damage, but these studies have all been disproven.

In fact, the DEA's own Administrative Law Judge Francis Young has

declared that "marijuana in its natural form is far safer than

many foods we commonly consume."

 

The disturbing thing about all of this information is that

the majority of Americans are as yet unaware of the radioactive

risk in cigarettes. In fact, many professionals: doctors,

scientists and health administrators, either have never heard of

polonium 210 or consider it to be just another scare story.

Why is this information so hard to come by? When the

studies were first released in the late 70's, many magazines were

unable to print articles because their main advertisers,

cigarette companies, threatened to pull support if they published

the facts. Although network news did pick up the story,

virtually nothing came out in print. Those who heard were hard

pressed to produce collaborating evidence, and were eventually

convinced it was nothing to worry about.

The power of the cigarette industry to suppress information

goes far beyond magazines, however. A well financed tobacco

lobby has been very active in the United States Congress for

decades procuring subsidies and fighting laws and proposed

research which could hurt the American tobacco industry. Tobacco

interests practically own Senate and House seats, as many

campaign contributions come from cigarette profits. Tobacco pay-

offs also go to fund organizations such as the Partnership For A

Drug Free America, which adopt a harsh anti-drug agenda yet seem

to omit alcohol and tobacco (claiming they are harmless.)

As an example, a 1984 law which was intended to require

tobacco companies to release to the public a list of additives

used in the manufacture of cigarettes was watered down to the

extent that the list is now released only to the Department of

Health and Human Services on the condition that it not be shown

to anyone else. Companies have been known in the past to add

chemicals to cigarettes for flavor, and, many assert, for their

addictive properties. In Britain such chemicals have included

acetone and turpentine, as well as an assortment of known

carcinogens.

Tobacco companies argue that revealing their 'secret

ingredients' would hurt their competitiveness. In fact, when

Canada passed legislation forcing additive lists to be released,

one large company reformulated its recipe for its Canadian

distribution; another took its product out of Canada entirely.

Tobacco companies do not have the right to poison the

public. Don't trust them. Get the information you need to make

your own decisions, and restore government to the people.

 

Another destructive aspect of the Drug War is the

unreasonable measures taken as a result of "reefer madness."

Because of the long standing anti-pot-smoking paranoia begun in

the 1930's, many law enforcement agencies have taken it upon

themselves to censor and limit the marijuana culture through

whatever channels they can find. This includes the banning of

various forms of drug "paraphernalia" (pipes, clips, rolling

papers, etc.)

Water pipes, or "bongs," are quite often the target of such

efforts. Claiming that water pipes are constructed to allow

marijuana smokers to inhale "dangerous" marijuana smoke deeper

into their lungs, many states and towns have passed laws

controlling the sale, manufacture, and possession of these items

for "health" reasons.

The sad fact is, water pipes have been shown to be extremely

effective in removing harmful materials from smoke before it

reaches the lungs. They also cool the smoke and prevent injury

and irritation to lung passages. In effect, laws against water

pipes hurt all smokers, cannabis and tobacco, by preventing the

development of safer forms of consumption.

 

[mull]

Good piece there thanks for sharing.

 

Guess the big concern then is - do they know which phosphates are high in this 226 radiation?

That way we can ensure none of it gets on our cannabis indoors/outdoors.

 

Also, how do we test our soils for these radiations. This same problem might already be present in our outdoor crops!

[wildflower]

Excellent read thankyou.

[Zaknefain]

The Polonium 210 only omits alpha particals so really, I do not agree with this articles because such a volume of Polonium 210 to cause cancer would require a Nuclear Reacter so that one could react that much. Also, the halflife for Polonium is extremely short; meaning that if it came from a phosphate fertilizer it would have finished its radioactive cycle. Also, Polonium 210 comes from Uranium Ore at 100 'micro'grams (10 to the power of negative 6, I believe, .00000001 grams) per Metric Ton. So unless this soil somehow contained Uranium Ore in it, it does not have Polonium 210.

 

 

Haha, did I convice you?

 

 

Polonium 210 has been found in Tobacco Smoke, it causes cancer and tumors... Watch out you Nic fiends.

Edited December 1, 2006 by Zaknefain