Vaporizing – The Healthiest Way to Smoke Marijuana?

The marijuana culture in the United States has changed considerably in the last few years – stems and seeds are gone, potency has increased and the drug has even become legal in most states.

As President Obama and the Choom Gang remand the issue, Oregon and Alaska voters are set to follow Washington and Colorado in allowing not just the medical use of marijuana, but also the recreational use of the drug, which was once deemed by Congress (1970) as one of the most dangerous.

Support for marijuana has reached 60% throughout the nation, even though the FDA refused to reclassify it, in accordance with international agreements.

So you may be wondering, what’s the safest (healthiest, perhaps?) way to smoke marijuana?

Most consumers continue to smoke marijuana in spite of the growth of marijuana-laced food and drinks. But by smoking it, you are, in effect, inhaling a mixture of numerous chemicals such as its psychoactive ingredient delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) as well as at least 50 proven carcinogens.

As of this writing, there has been no firm conclusions in regards to the health risks of smoking marijuana. But there have been suggestions that smoking it can cause cancer, although in some cases, it has also been suspected to cure it.

Regardless of the inconclusive findings, we know for a fact that burning marijuana not only results in lowered potency of the drug, but it also causes respiratory problems. The hot mixture you get when you smoke the herb destroys cilia, which is responsible for eliminating intercellular trash; and at the same time, it produces tar deposits in the body.

Furthermore, when you hold your breath after you inhale from a bong or pipe, you risk your health even more. About 85% of the THC is absorbed by the lungs in a matter of seconds, with temperatures going as high as 2000F. Even the use of water pipes and hookahs have not been able to effectively remove dangerous chemicals from the toxic cloud that you inhale, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

On the other hand, a vaporizer heats the herb to 338F, which is the ideal temperature, instead of burning the marijuana to yield smoke. When you use a vaporizer, it lowers your exposure to carcinogens that are normally present in marijuana smoke.

According to University of California San Francisco’s Donald I. Abrams, professor of clinical medicine, there’s no exposure to harmful substances when you use a vaporizing device for your marijuana.

Researchers from the Netherlands also conducted two studies recently and found that vaporizers are safe and effective in delivering cannabinoids to the body.

The debate on the pros and cons of marijuana continues to this day, and as marijuana advocates remain vigilant in their efforts to change the public’s perception of this drug, there’s one thing we know for sure – vaporizers are a smarter and better way to get your dose of marijuana.