"no dude smoking a joint is like the equivalent of many cigarettes"
in terms of tar, yes. But marijuana Vs tobacco, marijuana is the more "healthier" alternative. It's just that tobacco is so socially acceptable these days and is manage by fat cats with billion dollar pay checks that people find out otherwise. Same with the booze...but i'm sure you guys don't want to hear my rants...
Do you realise how much crap is in manufactured cigarettes?
There are alternate ways of ingesting marijuana, eating, vaporising etc etc which pose little to no health risks at all, in terms of lungs etc.
When people talk about holding their marijuana hits longer, i am positive, that if they are taking quality material, there is no need to hold hits. Dodgy quality is caused by black market trade, "create X amount for X amount of dollars" dealers don't care about the quality, all they care about is money...sad but true
Mental problems are a different story, but there is alot of propaganda out there don't forget.
use not abuse