# Secondhand Pot Smoke Effects? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 16, 2003, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secondhand-pot-smoke-effects/195664 "2003-08-16T23:24:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![blasphmer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6de8d8/32.png) [@blasphmer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blasphmer)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2003, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secondhand-pot-smoke-effects/195664/1 "2003-08-16T23:24:29Z")
I’ve read all kinds of BS about potheads forcing the legalities of somethign currently illegal. What I’d like to know is once all those dopers start toking up in public what are the secondhand effects? Will it make other people high? What is the vehicular mortality rate, etc.? ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Sarang](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Jack\_Sarang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Sarang)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2003, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secondhand-pot-smoke-effects/195664/2 "2003-08-16T23:45:21Z")
> [@](#): > > I’ve read all kinds of BS about potheads forcing the legalities of somethign currently illegal Gee, kind of like alcohol and prohibition, right? Damn, those alcoholics for forcing the legalization of that horrid horrid poison. The most harmful byproduct of smoking Marijuana is the tar, from which you need to smoke it directly. If you walk by some-one smoking a joint, you will not get high. You will not get high standing right next to them. You will not get high if they blow the smoke in your face. The only way you will get high from second-hand marijuana smoke is if you lock yourself in a small enclosed space with no ventilation, also known as “hot boxing” to Marijuana users. The major problem with cigarette smoke is the large numbers of carcinogens contained it, which, apart from the Tar, marijuana doesn’t possess. ---
**Author:** ![gypsymoth3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/85e7bf/32.png) [@gypsymoth3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gypsymoth3)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2003, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secondhand-pot-smoke-effects/195664/3 "2003-08-17T00:10:11Z")
yeah, i think the most it might do is make your eyes burn and MAYBE give you a headache. i used to have to TRY to get a contact in my sister’s car… hehe 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2003, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secondhand-pot-smoke-effects/195664/4 "2003-08-17T00:59:30Z")
Secondhand pot smoke gives me awful asthma attacks, far worse than tobacco smoke. Of course, the way I found this out was by going for a weekend trip to see the Dead. That was one of the most horrific weekends of my life. ---
**Author:** ![Spiral\_Out3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@Spiral\_Out3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiral_Out3)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2003, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secondhand-pot-smoke-effects/195664/5 "2003-08-17T01:18:12Z")
Face it, pot is harmless and shouldn’t be illegal. I’m sure second hand cigarette smoke is far more dangerous. I’d be more concerned about that rather than if “dopers start toking up in public” ---
**Author:** ![neutron\_star](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/51bf81/32.png) [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2003, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secondhand-pot-smoke-effects/195664/6 "2003-08-17T02:14:33Z")
See [this](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=149111) thread from last year for info on marijuana’s effects on driving. [This](http://www.newscientist.com/hottopics/marijuana/news.jsp) interesting study compares marijuana to alcohol: > [@](#): > > Cannabis also fared better in five out of seven comparisons of long-term damage to health. For example, the report says that while heavy consumption of either drug can lead to dependence, only alcohol produces a “well defined withdrawal syndrome”. And while heavy drinking leads to cirrhosis, severe brain injury and a much increased risk of accidents and suicide, the report concludes that there is only “suggestive evidence that chronic cannabis use may produce subtle defects in cognitive functioning”. Now, what’s that about BS, again? ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2003, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secondhand-pot-smoke-effects/195664/7 "2003-08-17T03:47:12Z")
I want to know if “forcing the legalities” has _any_ meaning in a non-BS context.