QI | What Can't You Smoke In Dutch Coffee Shops?

[@tomashmore7413]

You can tell Bill Bailey is holding back his thoughts on Cannabis and Shrooms. He's dabbled quite liberally in the past.

[@thesandwich5321]

Am I the only one thinking about the 'Little Book of Calm' episode of Black Books?

[@Lultschful]

@@thesandwich5321 "Add a dab of lavender to your bath..."

[@ronangaffney7365]

looked like he was presently in a dabble in this clip lol

[@ordelian7795]

Ham. Can't smoke ham in a coffee shop.

[@the-thane]

But you're still allowed to steam them, thankfully. They aren't barbarians

[@abel6846]

Or salmon.

[@BLEMFIDEM]

David Tennant been doing his drug research, absolutely love that 🧐😂

[@nekroneko]

Well, he is a Doctor

[@lukeyyyyyy]

@@nekroneko Who's a doctor?

[@Taricus]

@@lukeyyyyyy He's THE doctor XD

[@lukeyyyyyy]

@@Taricus doctor who?

[@jessicajayes8326]

@@lukeyyyyyy Exactly!

[@ChadeGB]

I know the study Alan was referring too. It was a government bought study. What they didn't make clear and public at the time was that 3 joints is equal to smoking 20 cigs because the joints had tobacco in them and have no filter like cigarettes. They only released that information much later after considerable pressure from certain groups.

[@Zzyzzyzzs]

@@victorymansions If one is posing a question, as you've done with your first sentence, it is traditional to end the sentence with a question mark. I'd like to hope you wouldn't respond to this, as it would imply your face melted when confronted with your flaming hypocrisy.

[@yamanmustafa7574]

To.

[@mathews1451]

@S imagine actually typing anything like this in a youtube comments section. I hope you’ve calmed down

[@ScoopMeisterGeneral]

@@mathews1451 What did S say? The comment is no longer there.

[@kallscape1884]

plus it's the government so not a trustworthy study by any standards. the study needs to be conducted by a party with no agenda or bias. if this approach isn't taken then the results are instantly invalid in my opinion

[@Morphinus1984]

Fyi, nobody in the netherlands gives a flyin F about the no tobacco rule 😂

[@liannehoenderboom1018]

I actually am Dutch and just last week was talking about this with the till person at my local coffee shop, and you can indeed only smoke in a coffee shop these days if you are smoking pure weed, so no mixing with tobacco either

[@Truffle_Pup]

I no longer smoke ganja but I can assure you that inside an Amsterdam "coffee shop", unless you are caught rolling it, no one is willing to rip your joint apart to check if there is tobacco inside it.

[@MrJamesyboi121]

Not really how it plays out, though, They don't really care. A lot of tourists smoke weed with tobacco and the shops rarely say anything, they might ask you to move beside an extractor.

[@JHashcroft]

They literally sell joints with tobacco in CSs in Amsterdam. No one's going to stop you. Does an unenforced law really exist?

[@srenstraarupfrederiksen313]

When I was there, they just didn't want cigarettes visible on the table, and some shops did sell joints that contained tobacco but you weren't allowed to smoke them inside. Why you would be tempted to even stay for 5 min. in those places is beyond me, just get the joint and get out.

[@daveyevans2124]

Its not real tobacco but a herbal substitute.

[@srenstraarupfrederiksen313]

Davey Evans Yeah, those green trimmings they provide taste like hay.

[@michaelfarrell4824]

I was asked to leave a pub because they could smell tobacco in the joint I was smoking, told me a full weed joint was fine

[@michaelfarrell4824]

I was asked to leave a pub because they could smell tobacco in the joint I was smoking, told me a full weed joint was fine

[@Robhalifax]

Oh my god! That Lee Mack story about the cake. Virtually the same thing happened to me in Amsterdam. I accused the taxi driver of trying to kidnap me. He was probably just taking a longer route to the hotel as taxi drivers do, but I was paranoid.

[@magellanicraincloud]

The joke Lee Mack made at the end about drinking the bloke's urine? That happened! The reindeer urine was collected and drunk by the shamans, then the shaman's urine would be drunk by the villagers.

[@saneman4207]

Interestingly I once read that it is believed the 'Santa coming down the chimney & leaving presents' story also originated from the Siberian shamanic tradition, as during their ritual after consuming fly agaric mushrooms they believed the spirit of the mushroom came down the chimney of their huts & gave them gifts of knowledge, & the mushroom was personified as a little man who wore the colours of the mushroom, which are red & white.

[@LureThosePixels]

Nah, the red and white of santa came from Coca-Cola rebranding him

[@LeafShade]

But coca cola may have used inspiration from these myths and legends.

[@myname9748]

Santa Claus comes from the Dutch tradition of 'sinterklaas'.

[@Lloydy0105]

Leaf Shade I'm pretty sure it's because Coca Cola's branding is red and white

[@mefnow]

Sane Man it originates from the Dutch sinterklaas where black pete would climb down the chimney to put traditional Candy in kids shoes and leave presents in front of the fireplace.

[@finspin8577]

Recent studies have shown that there is only one connection between Marijuana and cancer and even that study was a little shaky. Again not a pot smoker but that's false Jonathan Creek.

[@aeyvan]

Flynn Rider Inhaling anything that is burnt is carcinogenic. Be it tabacco, weed, hookah or spinach. It's the smoke that does the most damage. Edibles in the other hand would be much healthier.

[@aeyvan]

zuluknob Lower chance of having cancer than cigarette smokers? Maybe. Lower than non-smokers? I doubt it but I'm not entirely denouncing it. Sources please.

[@palestinevideos2025]

Actually smoke from almost every burning substance is a carcinogen. Tobacco, cannabis, rubber, plastic, paper, wood, coal etc. Inhaling the smoke causes damage to your body and gives a risk of cancer. This is a fact. It's also a fact that even burnt food is carcinogenic like black toast or a black burnt burger.

[@MRRJ6549]

Don't smoke myself, but it's insane to claim weed is anywhere near as damaging as tobacco. I wish it was legal and controlled here, people would be a lot more healthy without drinking booze.

[@deaddoll1361]

"Recent studies have shown that......" seems to be a favourite line in the media to pedal all kinds of ridiculous "results", which only last as long as the next "new" study that overturns the previous ones.

[@sargentstephens45]

David Tenant was my favourite Dr Who....!!

[@joshuareynolds23]

Evi1M4chine doesn't matter it's been acknowledged on the show its just the doctor

[@liankungapachuau572]

Heyyy me tooooo

[@bingola45]

@@joshuareynolds23 if you say that somebody or other "is my favourite doctor", confusion may arise among people who are more accustomed to regarding a 'doctor' as a medical practitioner, or some other qualified specialist, rather than a character from 1960s children's television. Interestingly, Doctor Who's degree is a medical one, he having studied under Lister at Glasgow. Lister himself, of course, was a surgeon rather than a doctor, which sadly precludes him from being 'my favourite Doctor'.

[@Kowasi]

Being an 80s child, Mr. Sylvester McCoy is my favourite Doctor Who. Myself, also. I am my own favourite Doctor Who.

[@thesmallestminorityisthein4045]

He's my favourate 2 Doctors :)

[@George-li1yv]

Lee Mack is amazing.

[@johnnyiles7455]

This is exactly how casual misinformation is spread to the masses

[@Mybwain]

It stops idiots though.

[@livb6945]

In fairness, this show corrects itself when it's wrong

[@jordansadler8608]

This was recorded in 2009 when what Alan said was thought to be true. Probably was a poor thing to upload in 2016 though.

[@schwarzarne]

I just googled it and only found sources supporting what Alan said. Can you point me somewhere where it says it is less carcinogenic? But even if it is true if you compare a cigarette to a joint one still usually smokes way less joints than cigarettes because it is way less addictive.

[@RKBock]

@@schwarzarne don't bother. those pot-heads always want to convince you that it's a wonder drug, that heals cancer.

[@TheTruthKiwi]

Wow, I never realised that iconic red mushroom with the white dots was magic! Haha.

[@cavv0667]

Sooooo, he did indeed say "fungulous" at the end... Nice.

[@lonnwy]

Ok so I used to fancy David Tennant but after his reindeer story I'm not sure any more, but I do still fancy Alan Davies, xxxx

[@Peasant_of_Pontus]

Fly agaric mushrooms aren't highly toxic, they just have uncomfortable physical side effects. You'd have to eat like 15 caps for a lethal dose, and one cap is enough for effects to kick in.

[@seanclough7810]

So THAT'S how Santas Claus flies Christmas Eve.

[@obliviousotterI]

I love all the people in the comments saying "HOLY SHIT ALAN SAID SOMETHING INCORRECT"

[@BootsofBlindingSpeed]

Me too. It's so heartwarming to see people get stuck in to some wholesome debating & correcting of misinformation.

[@cammarc]

@@BootsofBlindingSpeed It's very heartwarming to see them twisting it and saying it's anti-cannabis propaganda, when really it's what the medical community believed at the time. It was the best information available to them.

[@Art1_Sec8]

the mushrooms Who is talking about are also the inspiration for the ones in Super Mario. apparently they make you feel as though you've grown a few feet... which then reminds me of Alice in Wonderland

[@rickenfatania]

I was there in Amsterdam in 2009/10 - it's true. I was in Lanzarote the night the ban was 'Enforced' and nobody gave a monkey's. The DJ announced it at midnight - nobody stopped smoking.

[@arondj]

Thats bizarre, i went there in 2013 and i solely smoke weed mixed with tobacco 50/50, its the icelandic standard because we have the most expensive weed in the world. Nobody cared.

[@toyotaprius79]

So was Alan ever proven correct or docked points on that?

[@DJMavis]

There isn't a final answer as yet. about 15 years ago it was thought as Alan stated, and indeed marijuana plants can contain many more carcinogenic chemicals (dependent on the strain and what part of the plant is smoked). However more recent research suggests that THC (the chemical that gives the effect of the drug (though there is a second which affects if but I can't recall it)) inhibits cancerous cell growth, so the chemicals have less effect than they would in isolation, and conversely nicotine increases the cancerousness of those chemicals. There has yet to be demonstrable links between smoking marijuana and cancer, though considering the relatively recent boom in consumption, that's not conclusive. Nor is it yet proven that THC can reduce cancerous growth, though there are many quacks peddling hash cures, as well as some serious research going into it.

[@DJMavis]

Reading that back, it's not many more carcinogenic chemicals, it's larger quantities of them.

[@Enleuk]

The cigarette filter also factors into it. At least some of the carcinogenic chemicals, like tar, are produced by the combustion of organic materials. These are to some extent filtered out for the cigarette smoker, but the weed smoker inhales the lot of them. Some weed smokers however try to reduce the level of combustion by using a so called vaporizer which turns the various oils in the weed into gases without setting fire to all the plant material. These oils include the active ingredients, such as THC. It is still unclear whether either nicotine or THC in themselves are carcinogenic.

[@mazza4190]

The pharmaceutical companies have been playing smoke and mirrors with Marijuana studies since they discovered how much money could be made in a lab with chemicals. The 20th century took to the aspirin and made Drug companies what they are today. Global Terrorists. All studies including Mop heads reference are to this day unfounded. Check out the stupidity of the B.L.F. Some people use tobacco so it increases the likelihood of cancer. You smoke so it must be a carcinogen. There are common elements shared by both. ..........and where not entirely sure what the effects really are....because no connection has been made btween cancer and marijuana.

[@DJMavis]

steven mazur You make the perfect example with aspirin, it's made from the leaves of a willow tree. Willow trees are common enough, so you can just chew the leaves of a willow tree and have the same effect, right? But they have extracted and isolated the effective compounds and sell it in a cheap and convenient format. What makes you think they can't do the same with Marijuana? If it has curative effects, they could make a fortune. They haven't really bothered. I wonder why.

[@Nulono]

2:41 A what?

[@SonOfFurzehatt]

Pro Plus - it's a caffeine tablet intended to improve alertness.

[@findinghare4588]

I love Amsterdam

[@paulharries9558]

This clip contains 3 stars of Doctor Who and one guy who nearly wrote for it.

[@annashaw6538]

Really??

[@paulharries9558]

The guy who nearly wrote for Doctor Who appeared in the last series.

[@tompearce0308]

Quarantine fun

[@jazztom86]

I just imagine those guys trying to get the urine from reindeers that are prancing around like there is no tomorrow.

[@imamoronand9199]

Let’s not kid ourselves here. They weren’t getting it from reindeers that could still prance

[@THEmobius77]

7 times more carcinogenic then tobacco my bollocks

[@SomeThrillingHeroics]

If your bollocks are 7 times more carcinogenic than tobacco, you should see a doctor immediately.

[@Idiomatick]

It is only true because most cigs have filters and most joints don't.

[@catsonmeth1]

@@Idiomatick It's not true regardless. Cannabis smoke produces more tar, but fewer carcinogenic compounds, than cigarette smoke. However, that can vary depending on the chemicals used during growth, as well as additives. The vast majority of cigarettes contain agricultural chemicals and additives, since tobacco is grown industrially and cigs are mass-produced, whereas cannabis is grown on a much smaller scale and usually sold loose or rolled in stores. Of course, unless you're Snoop or Willie, you're not going to be smoking nearly as much cannabis as tobacco anyway. The absence of nicotine is also important, since, even though it's not super carcinogenic on its own, it reduces cellular activity in the bronchial lining, which prevents the lungs from getting rid of the tar.

[@MichaelSHartman]

So that is how Santa kept the elves happy.

[@ninjabluefyre3815]

So you're saying Rudolph was actually a counterculturist?

[@BLEMFIDEM]

Essentially

[@kisbie]

How do you think he got that glowing red nose?

[@marthaanderson2656]

There is no medical evidence that Marijuana causes cancer as stated early in this clip. Smoke of any nature can cause irritation of the lungs but the stated 40x more dangerous than cigarettes is not supported

[@Samcd95]

Read this: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1277837/

[@TheClassicWorld]

No, but it is bad for you, nonetheless, also, I think when they say such things they mean with regards to the leaf, pure form, something or other. Alas, acute effects while under the influence can include euphoria and anxiety.

[@TheClassicWorld]

'Some people find it affects their memory, making it harder to remember things .'

[@TheClassicWorld]

'It makes some people feel confused, anxious or paranoid, and some experience panic attacks and hallucinations.'

[@TheClassicWorld]

'If you use cannabis regularly it can make you demotivated and uninterested in other things going on in your life, such as education or work. Long-term use can affect your ability to learn and to concentrate.' This doesn't sound much better than cancer, to be a mindless ape, in essence.

[@passthebutterrobot2600]

Looks like David Tennant wore his "Purple Man" / KIllgrave outfit for this

[@tokyoDRIFTA]

this was from 2009

[@passthebutterrobot2600]

@@tokyoDRIFTA Yes. It was a joke.

[@miffyn1737]

This is his velvet suit

[@zJoriz]

No no that taxi driver really tried to kill you. Local custom.

[@Ag8MrE]

Even if it is 7 times more carcinogenic, you don't stuff anywhere near as much smoke own your lungs as a tobacco smoker does. It's the dose that makes the poison.

[@thomaskloos6409]

As a dutch person, I can assure you that you can smoke whatever you want, as long as it's outside. Bars and restaurants would probably ask you to not smoke cannabis because of the smell. But that's about it.

[@TheSuperEsari]

That's very weird to me because, i thought cannabis smoke smells much nicer to me rather than tobacco!

[@ScoopMeisterGeneral]

@@TheSuperEsari Not gonna lie, I think they both smell pretty horrible.

[@francophone.]

They really put the pee in Happy Christmas at the end of the video.

[@gunning4u05]

0:25 'I don't do drugs and I have never done drugs' - says Englishman who "accidentally" ends up in a coffeeshop and "accidentally" eats spacecake and gets wasted in the pub every weekend drinking harddrugs..

[@mw9558]

Smoking weed in the Netherlands is possible on the streets. You will not be fined unless you stay in one place for too long. That's when people can to complain about the smell. For the coffeeshop part: I have never seen a cop open up a joint to see if it has tobacco in it. It's just like the weed: not legal, but regulated....

[@MrGundawindy]

So, the lesson to be learnt here is, don't smoke spin. 👍

[@verward]

damn, I'm from the Netherlands and I never thought about it like that. Although, you can't smoke cannabis inside a pub because it's still a public place.

[@Quickturealeyes]

Ward Huyskes Forget all the nonsense in this clip; none of it’s true and it only serves to spread misinformation and lies about the properties of cannabis

[@semperludens9241]

I am guessing you are talking about the 1990 'Tabaks- en rookwarenwet' that got extended to the catering industry in 2008, which makes it illegal to smoke tobacco outside of smoking areas. Coffee shops after 2008 usually have a counter in front for sales and then a door that leads to a lounge/smoking area. So this one is like a half truth. The law does exist but you can still smoke tobacco inside coffee shops.

[@Chyrnobyl66]

how the hell do you get the urine out of a wild reindeer thats high on shrooms so people can drink it?

[@imamoronand9199]

You kill it

[@HellaGust]

Why assume they were wild? Reindeer are commonly herded by humans from Scandinavia to Siberia and Mongolia to Canada and you'd just have to put a bucket under them as they began urinating. People do worse things to get high.

[@famousstranger8468]

Just want to point out two key facts those critizing the show (it's a great show) 1. QI aren't always up to date with their information 2. Most of it is from study's that have been presented in the science world and believed to be true. Like Alan in this video he harmlessly presents what he believes to be true which is completely human and ok.

[@ScoopMeisterGeneral]

@TheMoreSubsYouHaveTheGayerYouAre Of course ignorance us ok. Everyone is ignorant about most things, and that's fine. The problem is _wilful_ ignorance, and I see no evidence that anyone on the panel is guilty of it in this case.

[@JoeBleasdaleReal]

And the stoners flock to the comments section. If you are truly convinced that there is no downside at all to smoking cannabis I suggest checking out a great work by Edgar Foreman, J. (2001) but any of his more recent works should do as well.

[@imamoronand9199]

Fly Agaric is not a type of magic mushroom, but they’re still pretty cool

[@imamoronand9199]

@Bran Thomas the general definition is, as you say, psilocybin mushrooms

[@paulmichaelfreedman8334]

Probably was for a short time in 2008, but changed quickly after. Smoking in all forms is allowed in coffeeshops. It's just unusual to smoke tobacco only, what's the point.

[@jesperohlrich]

My guess would have been salmon. Cause you never see anyone smoking a salmon in an Amsterdam coffee shop ;)

[@PGraveDigger1]

@Jeff somersby In Tilburg there's the Grass Company, which is indeed also a restaurant. They don't have smoked salmon unfortunately, but the do have sandwiches with smoked ham and smoked chicken, and they also have tuna salad. thegrasscompany.nl/menukaart-spoorlaan/

[@liankungapachuau572]

I came here for the Doctor

[@jeroen92]

This was never true lmao, you dont get fined for smoking weed and you are allowed to smoke tobacco in coffee shops (if they have a smoking area of course, some shops are only for purchasing)

[@0xyzabcx0]

The purple man.

[@gothnerd887]

What about him?

[@4Ninjastarz4]

people don't have to smoke pure weed in dutch coffee shops, they offer herbal tobacco in bowls

[@greasysteve4707]

WE GOT GNOSTIC WEEWOOWEEWOO

[@chilesauce7248]

Alan is incorrect (FoS), it is not more carcegenic than tobacco, nor are 3 joints equal to 20 cigarettes.

[@devonferree1015]

Where the heck can I watch the full episode online? BritBox only goes as far back as Series L. And I'd prefer not signing up for an Acorn free trial just to see if they have it. Which I'm desperate enough, so I'll be doing it anyway once I post this.

[@devonferree1015]

britbox, back to series 12/L Acorn up to Series 4/D Acorn was a complete bust.

[@devonferree1015]

I've given up looking for a place to watch it.... Tried all the legal channels. Hulu, Acorn, Brit Box, Amazon (which only points to acorn anyway)...either not that that episode, or not the series as a whole. Tried some piracy probably-viruses sites...nothing but scams and/or viruses.

[@anydaynow]

Look up "santa is a mushroom". Very interesting stuff.

[@Felix-dx2qw]

Santa's not a mushroom, he just uses them to fly ;)

[@iybjs5308]

I bet David tennant was growing mushrooms in that blue box of his

[@tusmaniandevil]

This video actually isn’t completely accurate. Coffee shop employees fall under the Catering CAO. In this CAO it says that employees have the right (and thus have to) work in a smoke free environment because in the long term this could cause damage to their health. For that reason joints have to be smoked with a tobacco substitute instead of regular tobacco. If you are not in a coffee shop you are allowed to smoke a joint with tobacco. I know this is weird but what can I say, our cannabis and coffee shop policies are far from perfect. Oh and the coffee shops are not allowed to fine you, only government employees are. They are however allowed to ask you to leave the coffee shop which you have to comply to because the coffee shop risks a great fine if you are caught smoking with tobacco inside by an inspector. If you are a tourist and come to the Netherlands to smoke weed please don’t be rude, behave nicely and ask coffee shop employees for their advice and their policy :)

[@lugialover09]

It's odd how willing Stephen is to just accept Alan's word for it.

[@TheSandvichTrials]

It's really not, I can't remember any time on QI where Stephen would challenge a guest on something they said unless he himself had a correction. Surely, if he has no correction because he doesn't know, what's left? Just randomly guessing Alan's probably wrong based on gut feeling?

[@lugialover09]

@@TheSandvichTrials The joke is about how often Alan is wrong.

[@chilesauce7248]

Where were the Elves?? Alan is wrong!!!

[@tollyt7465]

My answer was Kippers.. Doh!

[@tarobunn228]

Linustechtips in the thumbnail

[@gerRule]

7 times more carcinogenic 😂 he hasn’t a clue

[@jordansadler8608]

Or maybe you're not bright enough to realise this was recorded in 2009 when what Alan said was true based on the most recent research into the topic at that time.

[@booxwee3804]

@@jordansadler8608 It was apparently a study based on smoking cannabiss with tobacco, without a filter..

[@failtolawl]

@@booxwee3804 so like how everybody smokes a blunt?

[@booxwee3804]

@@failtolawl Thats a spliff. No not everyone, at least not people who wants to get cancer

[@failtolawl]

@@booxwee3804 None of the forms of wrapping have filters unless you can find some made at a factory or something. Blunts, Spliffs, Joints, they are all raw marijuana being burnt. I'm not trying to talk about the health differences of marijuana or tobacco, but smoke is smoke, it doesn't matter what you're burning, you really shouldn't be putting it in your lungs - especially with all the alternative ways to ingest the stuff.

[@Farlig69]

1:19 Bollox Allan, where did you read that? The Beeb???

[@EebstertheGreat]

Three joints are not as carcinogenic as twenty packs. I know he meant one pack (20 cigarettes), but that's still not really supported.

[@ChumbawumbaChum]

EebstertheGreat he said “20 fags” which is a Brit term for cigarettes.

[@TheHutchy01]

I'm assuming you're also not allowed to smoke Kippers in cafés

[@ekstadropsen]

So don't mix and you'll be fine😂

[@summerlakes5045]

3 Joints = 20 packs of cigarettes is the biggest load I've ever heard in my life. I've smoked plenty of both to know. After you smoke a joint or bowl you just feel high. But after you smoke a cigarette you feel like you just killed a small part of your insides.

[@praisethesun9005]

Mark M I just started eating the stuff after 10yrs of smoking it. Funny thing is I catch myself thinking of how smokey and nasty my mouth must be and how bad my house must smell before I realize that I'm high because I ate it and that i'm a total spaz.

[@Samcd95]

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1277837/ - It's nowhere close, cannabis actually inhibits some of the carcinogenic effects of tobacco smoke

[@micomator]

Just posted this link and scrolled down to see it here already. :)

[@Penissniffer]

Chill he got confused about the tar amountin them i assume.

[@TheClassicWorld]

Now, there is a point to this, I'm just trying to find it.

[@maninarush2112]

Man, I hate paupers, but it seems a bit extreme to outlaw them.

[@rickedyrektd1895]

fly agarics not toxic...its like an energetic drunk...

[@joshuareynolds23]

Evi1M4chine he isn't wrong though it's bad in high doses

[@Lazarus-aap]

I don't think this is true.. Everyone smokes whatever in the coffee shops here. I think they got confused with the law that says you can't smoke in public places like bars and restaurants, except in the designated areas.. You can NOT smoke cannabis in those areas, but you CAN do it the other way around.

[@pygmyrhino5515]

All these people saying weed is actually harmless, pumping your lungs full of smoke never has a good effect

[@maammoos5377]

As far as I know, cannabis isn't legal, just tolerated.

[@BobJoe-rq9nz]

Doesn't matter whether weed is carcinogenic or not, filling your lungs with smoke is never a good thing. Theres a reason why firefighters wear gas masks.

[@walsh9080]

Bob Joe lungs are like ears. Just because you're able to put something in there does not make it advisable.

[@ThatDamnPandaKai]

Yes it did.

[@garnalengarnering]

no it didn't. when entering burning buildings, firefighters would breathe in huge amounts of carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide, and very little oxygen as the air is filled with smoke. the amount of smoke / deadly carbon monoxide a joint or cigarette produces is negatable when compared. this is like saying, "seeing light is bad. there's a reason why welders use face masks." ps, I'm not saying that smoking isn't bad for you

[@ThatDamnPandaKai]

I suggest you try not arguing about risks firefighters take; you're talking to a firemedic here. It's not CO that is the only dangerous component of smoke you know. Smoke indicates incomplete combustion which means particulate matter. It's the uncombusted portion that makes smoke bad for you, this includes cigarettes. Bob is taking it to an extreme, but the issue is still the same, any amount of smoke, no matter the source is not good.

[@johnpliskin8759]

Bob Joe there's a big difference between tobacco smoke a cannabis, the tar from cannabis is ejected very easily from the lungs, whereas the tar from the cigarettes stays with you, i smoke both and have noticed that when i quit smoking tobacco for a few weeks i start coughing up a lot more black stuff than when im regularly smoking cannabis, and one of the properties of thc is that it doesn't interact with receptors in your lungs the way nicotine does. which they think is why cannabis is not linked to lung cancer the way nicotine is interestingly the same study found that both nicotine and thc, when present in the brain, will reduce the amount of brain cell loss due to head trauma

[@monarkev]

G E K O L O N I S E E R D

[@stocktonjoans]

And the flying reindeer story was close, but he missed out one vital part. The shamans and possibly other revilers would then drink the reindeer's urine, which contained the Psilocybin (the psychoactive hallucinogenic) from the mushrooms, I'm pretty sure that if you hallucinate near reindeer enough times, sooner or later you are going to see one take off and fly around, and if that's not a story to tell the kids round the camp fire i don't know what is. ;)

[@BornAgainCynic0086]

A.D.D.

[@kevinbooth-]

I wish you people would stop misinforming people. Fly Agarics contain NO PSILOCYBIN! It contains Ibotenic acid and muscimol. It can also be deadly if not processed correctly and is readily confused with more deadly agarics. Stop being an uninformed know it all, you can cause others harm as a direct result. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amanita_muscaria Fuck wit.

[@joshuareynolds23]

Kevin Booth you people? he quoted David tennant

[@TheHutchy01]

Kippers

[@jay36963]

3 joints are equal to 20 cigarettes

[@DamienAlexander]

1:35 yes there is a law that prohibits this, smoking weed on the street but the police doesn't enforce it. Gedoogbeleid, they allow a lot of things that are illegal, unless people complain about it. Then they will act on it.

[@BSideWasTaken]

To this day this clip annoys me because marijuana is NOT more carcinogenic than tobacco whatsoever. It is literally the one time Alan made me angery.

[@woopimagpie]

Came here to say the same thing. I don't believe there is any evidence whatsoever that supports Alan's claim.

[@brianlea2853]

Bill bailey has never smoked cannabis

[@ShadowAkatora]

Ham?

[@nickotis2497]

I put it to you that drugs weren't even spoken on this episode, only the word drug... Drugs are created in laboratories .

[@RaccoonLex]

SO THATS why sum ppl stand in doorways?!

[@TheToneBender]

You're not allowed to smoke ganja in the streets? huh. Not uncommon to see it though :-P You occasionally walk past a few people and get a whiff of it.

[@Lord.Smith.the.first.]

3 joints= 20 cigarettes?

[@Lord.Smith.the.first.]

I bong hit=500 cigars

[@TheHutchy01]

A kipper

[@Jaqen-HGhar]

The only reason Marijuana smoke would be more carcinogenic than tobacco would be because any smoke is bad for you and most people who smoke tobacco are smoking it through filters which joints are not filtered. Smoking through a water pipe helps but if you were to smoke marijuana through a filter it would not be anywhere near as carcinogenic. Vaping tobacco is also much more harmful for your lungs due to flavorings added to them, just look up popcorn lung and then be horrified for the rest of your day.

[@paulpvhl1930]

A long-term study of non-smokers, tobacco smokers, and cannabis smokers published recently showed that cannabis smokers had very slightly less lung cancer than non-smokers and, like non-smokers, far less than tobacco smokers. It had apparently been a difficult study to undertake as it was hard to find people who only smoked cannabis.

[@InvagPrune]

True I've only met two in my life

[@Mythraen]

If Alan is right, then cannabis being 7 times more carcinogenic than tobacco doesn't mean much. The problem with cancer and tobacco is primarily from the additives in the cigarettes.

[@JadeNeoma]

While true, tobacco is still very carcinogenic on its own. Though to be fair, Alan is wrong but weirdly so. He was saying something similar to what the british heart foundation said which has since been massively discredited and is now used as an example of poor study selection and bias.

[@Mythraen]

@@JadeNeoma After you said this, I tried to look up the carcinogens in tobacco. Unfortunately, the internet thinks "tobacco" and "cigarette" are synonyms, so I'm running into problems. While my understanding is that breathing in _any_ smoke means breathing in carcinogens, I assumed that tobacco was no more carcinogenic than your average burned plant. You wouldn't happen to have a source regarding tobacco smoke carcinogens, would you?

[@jackielinde7568]

Did my own fact checking. Turns out, nobody really knows for sure if smoking Tobacco or Cannabis is worse for you. There are some research out there that says while both have the same types of carcinogens in them, the THC in weed might counteract some of the effects of smoking weed. Don't know where Alan got his "seven times" fact, but there was a study that said it could have been as high as twenty times, but it's largely been discredited by everyone else. The one thing everyone agrees is more research is needed on this topic. So, I'm surprised the elves didn't call Alan out on this. And, no, I don't use Cannabis either medically or recreationally. I've also voted against many of the recreational laws that went to voters in my state. It's just when Alan said the "seven times" thing, my BS detector went, "Hang on a minute!"

[@woopimagpie]

@@Mythraen I realise I'm quite late to the party, but I read some botanically-based stuff about tobacco a while back, and it stated it had been researched that tobacco plants will seek out the naturally occurring radioactive elements in the soil and take them up, whereas the cannabis plants will not. The conclusion drawn is that aside from the particulate deposits in the actual smoke, tobacco is mildly radioactive, which of course is why it's carcinogenic. As far as I know no one has yet been able to definitively prove a link between cannabis and lung cancer, but given both are often smoked together it's going to be a hard thing to prove one way or the other. You'd need a large case study of people who had only ever smoked cannabis and never tobacco, who had also done it for many years, and even then if some cancer developed could cannabis be solely blamed? Probably not given there are plenty of people develop cancer who have never smoked anything ever. Some more recent pharmaceutical research is also indicating some cannabinoids are anti-oxidant and anti-viral, so theoretically would aid the immune system in fighting against cancer. Very interesting if true. Most research on elevated cancer rates in society today points the finger pretty squarely at the ridiculous amount of atmospheric nuclear testing in the 50s and 60s as the main culprit anyway. Radioactive elements present in the atmosphere we breathe every day are something like 100 times greater than before any nuclear testing began. We were right that the cold war arms race would kill us, just not the way we thought...... None of this is to say we should all take up smoking, I'm not saying that at all. But the number of folks who have never smoked who present to the oncology departments with respiratory cancers makes you wonder. For the record I smoke a little cannabis now and then and tobacco not at all, but I'm not worried about it at all. A life spent worrying about cancer is a life wasted. If you have to die from something, it might as well be that. Smoke a little weed if you want to, and enjoy your life.

[@Mythraen]

@@jackielinde7568 "I've also voted against many of the recreational laws that went to voters in my state." Why? I don't consume cannabis or THC in any form, either, but I voted for legalizing it, because there's literally no value in having it be illegal. Nearly any concern you might have about it is shared with either alcohol or cigarettes, both of which are legal. Also, very few people are avoiding marijuana because it's illegal. You're just choosing to make something people do recreationally and doesn't affect you a crime with criminal punishments.

[@Qwiggsy]

If your a really blatant about putting tobacco in yiur joints they might stop you. Though you'd really have to flaunt it. Most of them don't care.

[@shogan8460]

What is Alan talking about?

[@foxyrocks777]

Can't believe they actually aired the joint is 7 cigarettes part, such bullshit

[@MissMoontree]

Most people mix weed in joins with tobacco. Also burning it isn't the greatest way healthwise to use it. Eating it would avoid those harmfull chemicals.

[@MegaBanne]

I guess Rudolf was a drunkard instead.

[@mopadrider6012]

What u cant smoke in a coffe shop in my country is simple hard drugs and weed is soft sow evrything in the hard drug cathogory is ilegal sow just smoke a nice joint

[@jordansadler8608]

This was recorded in 2009 when what Alan said was thought to be true. There was a research piece around the time that stated about weed being far more carcinogenic than tobacco. Instead of complaining why not just look up when the clip was recorded and realise why he said that. But obviously that would require some effort and would mean you couldn't get offended and complain so obviously most of you aren't going to take that route. Honestly just pathetic seeing all these complaints.

[@thanksfernuthin]

It's called hypocrisy.

[@richa16x]

If you casually drink alcohol, you are a casual drug user. :p

[@BertGrink]

Also coffee :)

[@jedsithor]

I've smoked joints with tobacco in coffee shops in Amsterdam. I even asked if it was OK to do so. Smoking pure cigarettes is a no-no but most people across Europe smoke weed with tobacco, they see it as a waste of weed to make a pure cannabis spliff.

[@js0988]

Why would you mix a lethal drug with cannabis???

[@InvagPrune]

@@js0988 its cheaper

[@garchompenthusiast]

Interesting to learn Alan's point on marijuana smoke is total rubbish, as tobacco smoke is much, much more carcinogenic