Studies Show That While Smoking Marijuana Can Help to Open Up The Lungs, It Can Have More Toxins Than Smoking Cigarettes. Two recent studies have found that while smoking marijuana can help to open up the lungs, it can have more toxins than smoking cigarettes. For more than 20 years, the University of California, San Francisco and the University of Alabama have been collecting research and medical data on marijuana smoke in relation to tobacco smoke and its comparative effects on the human respiratory system. [continues 312 words]