system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
Is tobacco smoke uniquely carcinogenic, or only so dangerous due to nicotine's addictiveness?

I feel like I stumble onto a lot of debate on the topic of the dangers of nicotine, cigarettes, and how they compare to the risks of cannabis smoking.

The common consensus is that cigarettes are far more likely to give you cancer. But is this true, and why? Does smoke from tobacco contain more carcinogens than smoke from cannabis? Or is the increase in danger due to nicotine's higher addictive potential, resulting in the average cigarette smoker inhaling far more smoke than the average cannabis smoker?
gpt
During curing, tobacco-specific nitrosamines form in the tobacco leaves that are carcinogenic. These compounds make tobacco smoke more carcinogenic than other plant's smoke.

They're also present in dipping and chewing tobacco, but in lower amounts. They're only present in trace amounts in snus(non-cured tobacco), which is why snus users have lower rates of oral cancer than dipping/chewing tobacco users(still higher rates of cancer than non-users).