Blunts Add Tobacco Exposure to Cannabis Smoke: Here’s What That Means for Health

Blunts may look like a tobacco-free way to use cannabis after the cigar filler is removed, but the wrapper can still matter. Because blunts are typically made from cigars, cigarillos, or tobacco-derived wraps, they may expose users to nicotine in addition to the irritants and toxic chemicals produced when cannabis burns.

That combination does not make blunts equivalent to cigarettes, and research has not established every long-term health effect of blunt smoking. However, the available evidence supports a straightforward conclusion: blunts are not a risk-free alternative to joints or other cannabis products.

What makes a blunt different?

A blunt is cannabis rolled in a cigar or cigarillo wrapper, sometimes after some or all of the tobacco filler has been removed. A joint usually uses cannabis and rolling paper, while a spliff combines cannabis with loose tobacco in rolling paper. Some commercial “blunt wraps” are made from tobacco; others are marketed as tobacco-free herbal or plant-based wraps, so the ingredients can vary.

Even when the tobacco inside a cigarillo is discarded, the wrapper may retain nicotine. In a 2016 product-testing study of cigar and cigarillo wrappers, all five products tested contained measurable nicotine, with estimated amounts ranging from 1.2 to 6.0 milligrams per wrapper. The researchers described the findings as preliminary and noted that the amount of nicotine actually delivered during blunt smoking still required further study.

Tobacco and nicotine exposure

Nicotine is addictive. Repeated exposure can reinforce tobacco use and may make it harder to distinguish cannabis use from tobacco use. One observational analysis of data from the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health Study found that people who smoked blunts were more likely to subsequently begin using cigarettes, e-cigarettes, or cigars than people who used neither blunts nor cannabis. Because this was an observational study, it cannot prove that blunt smoking caused later tobacco use; shared factors such as existing substance use or social environment may also have contributed.

Nevertheless, the tobacco component is a meaningful distinction. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s overview of tobacco health effects links combustible tobacco use with cancer, heart disease, stroke, and lung diseases including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. A tobacco-derived wrapper does not turn a blunt into a cigarette, but it can add tobacco-related exposure that would not be present in a cannabis-only joint.

Smoke itself can irritate and injure the lungs

Regardless of the wrapper, burning cannabis creates smoke containing fine particles, irritants, and carcinogens. The CDC reports that smoked cannabis has many of the same toxins, irritants, and cancer-causing chemicals found in tobacco smoke. Regular cannabis smoking is associated with cough, mucus production, and symptoms of bronchitis; these symptoms often improve after stopping.

A small randomized study directly compared cannabis smoked in a tobacco-leaf blunt with the same amount smoked in cigarette paper. The 2009 study found that the blunt condition produced greater carbon-monoxide exposure and a higher heart rate than the joint condition. Carbon monoxide reduces the blood’s ability to carry oxygen. The result does not show that every blunt produces a particular dose or that blunts cause chronic disease, but it does demonstrate that the smoking method can change physiological exposure.

The original claim that cannabis smoke is necessarily “more toxic” than tobacco smoke is too broad. The better-supported point is that both kinds of smoke contain harmful combustion products, and adding a tobacco wrapper can increase exposure to nicotine and, under some conditions, carbon monoxide.

What about cancer and other long-term disease?

Combustion can produce polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and other compounds associated with cancer. That is one reason cannabis smoke is a concern even when no tobacco is present. However, evidence about whether cannabis smoking independently causes lung cancer, emphysema, or COPD remains limited and difficult to interpret because many users also smoke tobacco and because patterns of cannabis use vary widely.

It is more accurate to say that blunt smoking combines two potential sources of harmful smoke exposure than to claim that blunts have a proven, specific cancer risk separate from other smoking methods. The CDC’s summary of cannabis and lung health notes both the known respiratory effects of smoked cannabis and the need for more research on specific long-term diseases.

Do wraps and papers add additional contaminants?

Paper and wrap quality may also matter, although the evidence is still developing. A 2024 analysis of commercially available cannabis rolling papers detected varying amounts of elements including chromium, nickel, lead, and other metals. The study examined the materials themselves; it did not establish how much of each substance reaches a person’s lungs during normal use or demonstrate that a particular brand causes illness.

For that reason, choosing a product labeled “organic” or “natural” should not be treated as a guarantee of safety. Regulated products may have more reliable testing, but no paper or wrap eliminates the risks created by inhaling smoke.

Are other cannabis products safer?

There is no universally risk-free method of using THC. Each route has different trade-offs:

• Joints and pipes: Avoiding a tobacco wrapper removes the wrapper’s potential nicotine exposure, but combustion still produces irritating particles and toxic chemicals. A bong or water pipe may cool smoke, but it does not make smoking harmless or remove all harmful substances.
• Vaporizers: Heating cannabis without burning it can reduce exposure to some combustion products, but vaping is not risk-free. Concentrates may contain very high THC levels, additives, or contaminants. THC vaping products were also associated with the 2019 outbreak of e-cigarette- or vaping-associated lung injury, particularly products containing vitamin E acetate. The CDC cautions that scientists do not yet have enough evidence to declare one cannabis method broadly safer than all others.
• Edibles and drinks: These avoid smoke exposure, but their effects can be delayed and unpredictable. Taking more before the first dose has taken effect increases the risk of consuming too much.
• Tinctures and other oral products: These also avoid inhalation, but the onset, duration, dose, and product quality vary. Products should be stored securely to prevent accidental ingestion, especially by children.

For people who choose to use cannabis, avoiding tobacco-derived wraps is one way to reduce nicotine exposure. Avoiding combustion altogether removes the lung risks associated with smoke, but it does not eliminate the risks of THC impairment, overconsumption, dependence, medication interactions, or contaminated products.

Blunts can provide a familiar social format, but the tobacco wrapper changes the exposure profile. The strongest evidence supports caution about nicotine, carbon monoxide, and respiratory irritation—not sweeping claims that every blunt causes a particular long-term disease. Consumers who want to reduce harm should consider tobacco-free, noncombustible options and recognize that each alternative carries its own risks.