[Danny]

That is partially true, but not totally true. The Tobacco leaf still contains Tar and Nicotine, and so can still cause cancer and reduce your lung capacity. In fact, all of the specific problems with tobacco that I know of come from the leaf itself, but I am sure that there were more that were caused by additives. I'll have to look that one up.

As an interesting side-note, did anyone else read about that chemical that they discovered a couple of years ago that, when added to tobacco, actually cancelled out most of the bad effects of it? Unfortunately, the tobacco companies refused to add it to the tobacco, because it also made it less addictive. Now that's selfishness...

That reminds me, back on the subject of cannabis, there can be long-term side-effects from smoking, but not from the cannabis itself. Some dealers cut other nasty stuff into it to bulk it out and/or make it more addictive. For example, I once knew of a dealer who used to add Wood Varnish and Heroin into his hash. This sort of thing is probably the reason for all of the side-effects that have been reported. If you have a reliable supplier, though, you'll be okay.

Oh yeah, and I forgot to mention this before: Sydney mentioned something about having heard that cannabis causes mental problems like schizophrenia. There is actually some truth in this: Cannabis can't cause these problems, but if you have any underlying mental disorders, then cannabis can often bring them to the surface, and cause you to suffer the effects of them, instead of them remaining dormant in your subconscious.