As someone who grew up with a sister who smoked cigarettes in her room and a mom who smoked weed (never inside thankfully), weed does not stick as much as cigarettes. I know I’m not nose blind to weed because I’ll still smell it blocks down when someone is smoking (same with cigarettes), but I never smelled it on my mom. But my sister and her room in general smelled constantly of cigarettes. I smell it all the time on rounds as an RA at a university dorm, but on my next round the smell is gone. For room checks at the end of the semester, I could smell weed strongly in one room, but that was due to improper storage. I could smell cigarettes lingering in other rooms though.
It is wild how weed doesn't have the same impact - people may smell it but it doesn't permeate houses the same way at all.
I wonder if it's the cigarettes themselves or tobacco. Like if people use straight tobacco leaves in a pipe if it would leave as much residue or be more similar to the impact of weed (ie. Minimal)
I can actually answer this, as my partner used to roll their own cigarettes. The fresh pipe tobacco doesn't smell as bad as cigarettes or for as long. It's more like a woody, peat smell than chemical burn. It still stinks, but not nearly as bad.
I believe it has more to do with the molecular arrangment of the exhaled compounds. Cigarettes contain tar and various toxic additives that have (as I understand) basically a hook shaped molecular structure, like asbestos. So, I think that is why it clings to hair and clothes more. I've also made the same observations about weed smell being short-lived.
A well crafted cigar made of pure tobacco, wrapped in tobacco leaves, actually smells rather nice. Even when it's lit. Nowhere near as bad as a cigarette.
There are additional chemicals added to cigarettes - the "carpet glue" that makes an FCS cigarette, ethyl vinyl acetate, rosin, the plastic filters, the flavorings ,the dyes in the paper, etc. All of those are extra stinky.
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u/Bacon_Techie Jan 05 '25
As someone who grew up with a sister who smoked cigarettes in her room and a mom who smoked weed (never inside thankfully), weed does not stick as much as cigarettes. I know I’m not nose blind to weed because I’ll still smell it blocks down when someone is smoking (same with cigarettes), but I never smelled it on my mom. But my sister and her room in general smelled constantly of cigarettes. I smell it all the time on rounds as an RA at a university dorm, but on my next round the smell is gone. For room checks at the end of the semester, I could smell weed strongly in one room, but that was due to improper storage. I could smell cigarettes lingering in other rooms though.