[Cannabis: Similarities and differences with tobacco].
Revue des maladies respiratoires June 1, 2020 P Mura, M Underner, B Brunet
Nicotine is tobacco's psychoactive substance, while tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is cannabis's. Cannabis is inhaled differently than tobacco: larger puffs, deeper inhalation, longer lung retention. Cannabis addiction is hard to assess because both substances are often smoked together. Cannabis causes physical side effects similar to tobacco's, affecting the lungs, heart, hormones, and mouth. It also causes gastrointestinal issues like cannabinoid hyperemesis. THC's psychological effects can be acute—altered perception, decreased vigilance, mood and dissociative disorders, hallucinations, impaired learning and memory, panic attacks—or chronic, including lack of motivation, disorganized thinking, and more frequent and severe schizophrenic crises. Cannabis is linked to traffic and workplace accidents. Synthetic cannabinoids have stronger psychotropic and somatic effects due to greater affinity for brain cannabinoid receptors.