This is a trick question.
None of them are “best.” Each option is terrible. Don’t smoke. Do something else to deal with your stress.
Whether consumed as a cigarette or in a pipe, whether tobacco or marijuana, none are good choices.
It’s just not good to become dependent on any substance. Getting into the habit of smoking something before bed is an easy way of getting dependent. Whether in the form of a cigarette (like a joint) or in a pipe, neither marijuana nor tobacco is what you want to be putting yourself to bed with.
We’ll stick with five big reasons why. There’s a lot more than that, but there’s no point in beating a dead horse and there’s no point in writing or reading about much more than that.
Smoking before bed can turn into a bad habit
Both marijuana and tobacco are habit-forming. They’re among the most addictive substances. Procuring them will take your money. Using them will stop your body from functioning as well as it could otherwise.
Furthermore, there are no other positives on the other side of the ledger.
Many people say marijuana and tobacco are relaxing. And they are, but there are other things you can do, or other things that you can consume that are just as or even more relaxing. Going for walks in nature is relaxing. Sipping a cup of herbal tea is relaxing.
Worse, they’re far more expensive than the alternatives, especially since bad habits are paid for in small increments.
It’s better to not start rather than try to kick a bad habit.
If you’ve got a bad habit, start trying to kick it now.
If you feel too stressed to sleep, go for a walk, swim, or read a book.
It’s inconvenient
Do you want to start smoking in bed? If you doze off, you can light your home on fire. Over the years, that’s happened to different people thousands of times.
So you smoke outside to avoid the effects of carcinogens indoors? Well, you’ve got to go outside to do it. That’s downright inconvenient when it’s too cold or too hot.
It’s better to go outside for the purposes of simply going outside. Go for a walk. If it’s a warm night or moderate temperature, sit with your feet in some grass. Hopefully, there are not too many bugs.
Both substances affect your breathing
Not being able to breathe as well affects your sleep in the long run. You’ve got to breathe in order for your body’s cells to respirate. Avoid anything that makes this more difficult.
They affect other areas of your body
Nobody seems to talk about how marijuana makes you stupider, especially if you’re young. There used to be this stereotype of the dazed marijuana smoker that isn’t too far from the truth. It was seen a lot in the media back in the 70s and 80s. Now you don’t have characters like that, maybe because marijuana sales are respectable and dominated by big corporations. Maybe, too, because governments collect taxes from the sale.
Tobacco, of course, causes cancer, often in the lungs.
Manage stress
Probably someone, somewhere made the decision once to start smoking because he or she thought it looked cool. Maybe they were trying to project a certain image.
Often it’s not that. Smoking is a way of managing stress. If you can manage that, you are less likely to start smoking.
The good news is that you can diminish the stress by making a list of everything that’s causing you stress. Then go over your list. You’re not going to be able to do anything about some of the things on your list. Cross them off.
For the rest of them, the things that you can affect, take a look at what you can do to change them. It could be as simple as moving some things around in your schedule.
Either way, it’s a good exercise because it helps to be proactive about your situation, whatever it is.
Stress will never go away from life. Indeed, you don’t want a life without any. That would be boring. The key, however, is to manage it.
Also on the blog:
James Cobb, RN, MSN is the founder of the Dream Recovery System. He’s committed to telling it like it is when it comes to rest, sleep, and dreaming.
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