Anyone who hasn’t read the article outlining the key distinctions between a joint, a blunt, and a spliff must first understand the basic terminology.
Joint: The term “joint” is frequently used to refer to a cannabis-only cigarette. Aside from subtleties on the filter and rolling sheets, joints typically don’t include tobacco. In North America (the United States and Canada) and Europe, the term “joint” is most frequently used to refer to a rolled joint.
Spliff: On the other hand, a spliff is typically used to describe a joint that contains at least 50% tobacco. Personal choice is always a factor, although some people almost ever add any cannabis at all. Spliffs are more popular than marijuana in Europe since it is more expensive and difficult to obtain.
One phrase will frequently flow into another, and occasionally the definitions will even be reversed. The overlap between descriptions causes many uncomfortable circumstances for anyone seeking to obtain a sense of a new place. All of us have been there. To acquire what you want, it’s crucial to learn the local slang.
The Study – Mixing Tobacco And Weed
The study is the first to examine the interactions between cannabis and tobacco when they are combined in joints, which is how most cannabis users in Europe take their substance.
According to the study’s primary author, Chandni Hindocha, “there’s a longstanding notion that mixing tobacco with cannabis can make you more stoned, but we found that actually, it did nothing to improve the subjective experience” (UCL Clinical Psychopharmacology Unit).
24 healthy, non-dependent, but seasoned cannabis and tobacco users participated in the study. Each participant participated in four sessions of joint smoking that either contained tobacco and cannabis, tobacco and a placebo, cannabis and a placebo, or only the placebo of both. They underwent a task to assess their spatial working memory as well as an episodic memory test in which they had to recollect written passages that they had heard both before and after smoking. Participants’ mood and experiences were appraised, and the research team measured their heart rate and blood pressure.
Cannabis affected the participants’ memory, which is consistent with earlier findings. The researchers think this impairment is related to earlier discoveries that nicotine can enhance concentration because it was lowered when tobacco was added. While there was a modest increase in blood pressure among those who mixed the substances, heart rate was at its greatest when tobacco and cannabis were used together, which the researchers suggest may exacerbate the cardiovascular risk of smoking cannabis.
What They Have Discovered
“We discovered in a recent study that the vast majority of cannabis users in Europe also consume tobacco. The ability of tobacco to lessen cannabis’ memory-damaging effects may contribute to its inclusion in joints “said Hindocha. “Surprisingly little study has been done on the potential impact of cigarettes on cannabis effects. Any modifications to cannabis legislation must take into account how they interact as marijuana becomes legal in other nations.”
There is a clear public health relevance here, demonstrating that combining tobacco and cannabis does not improve the stoned experience but is nonetheless worse for physical health, according to senior author Professor Val Curran of the University College London Clinical Psychopharmacology Unit.
When he was located at UCL, Dr. Tom Freeman said “We now understand that by improving memory and attention, cigarettes can lessen some of the negative effects of cannabis in the short run. These findings shed fresh light on why people smoke tobacco in their joints and frequently develop tobacco addictions after quitting cannabis use.”
The Risks Of Mixing Tobacco And Weed
The health risks related to smoking tobacco are one of the main worries surrounding the practice of blending cannabis and weed. We are all aware of the detrimental effects of tobacco use; numerous research have looked into these effects and the findings are well known.
In other words, smoking marijuana isn’t really any healthier than smoking tobacco. It’s crucial to understand that smoking involves combustion, whether it’s with tobacco, cannabis, or some weird herbal mix from a headshop.
The organic compounds contained in plants are broken down during combustion into “free radicals,” which can react with other molecules or with one another to create a wide range of products, the majority of which are highly hazardous. You are directly exposed to these chemicals when you breathe in the smoke that results from a burned product.
Because they enable you to heat dried herbs like cannabis (or any other dry herb, for that matter) to a temperature that still extracts the plant’s primary chemicals without actually igniting them, vaporizers are very popular nowadays. In contrast to a joint, which only contains around 25% cannabinoids, the vapor produced by a vaporizer has been shown to contain about 95% of them.
Don’t waste your time telling someone who enjoys dusting a beautiful layer of tobacco on their pot about the advantages of smoking “clean” if you’re really concerned about the health impacts of smoking. Purchase a vaporizer instead.
