So this makes perfect sense. The idea that breathing smoke can harm the lungs and heart is not hard to swallow. But when people suggest that, I often wonder something. As an occasional recreational marijuana smoker, I might typically take three or four puffs, and with the increasing potency of THC products, that's more than enough for a several-hour high — meaning I'm very unlikely to smoke more than that. I don't smoke week anywhere nearly as often as every day, but suppose I did smoke every day? How would that compare to cigarettes?

When I was a young man in the military, I smoked cigarettes. (I know, I know. I was young and still immortal in my own mind.) I smoked about a pack a day, and each cigarette would give me quit a lot more than three or four puffs, of course. So, how many in a pack? I can't remember, but 20 or 25.

Let's conservatively say 10 puffs from 20 cigarettes a day, so 200 puffs all up. That feels like it should be far more significant than 3 or 4 daily puffs of ole Mary Jane.

Of course, I don't know. Maybe some or most weed smokers consume a lot more than 3 or 4 puffs. Maybe burning marijuana flower is a lot more toxic than burning tobacco.

But this is something I wonder about when I see the subject come up. It would be nice if the Schedule 1 classification could be lowered so researchers could begin to more effectively look into questions like this.