Learn facts about vaping and why vaping can help people who need to take CBD or want to consume dry herb cannabis (Ok, let’s call it marijuana). Quitting smoking is one of the best things you can do for your health and using a vape to take CBD or consume dry herb cannabis is a healthier way to take cannabis than smoking it.
There is a lot in the media at the moment about vaping and there are some scary stories out there too, so what are the advantages…..and disadvantages of vaping as opposed to smoking cannabis or taking CBD drop orally?
The Five Facts You Need to Know
1. It is actually safer than smoking. Royal College of Physicians in England represents over 35,000 doctors globally and they endorsed vaporizing nicotine extract as a viable and effective way to kick cigarette smoking. They have done studies and haven’t given their approval lightly, but coming from them, this is a big endorsement for vaping. According to the RCP, vaping is at least 95% safer than smoking based on their extensive research. Vaping involves controlled heating of a substance to cause the volatile compounds in a substance to turn to vapor. There is no burning (combustion) involved so there is no tar or ash in the vapor. Vaping enables the user to experience the health benefits of eliminating unwanted chemicals and carcinogenic compounds in smoke. What does that mean? Apart from reducing the probability of lung cancer dramatically to near zero, it also better for oral hygiene, skin health, circulation, lung capacity and an improved sense of smell and taste. Hang on there before you rush to buy your first vape. Let’s not be too gung ho! Some caveats: The safety of vaping also depends on what you are vaping, the amount you are vaping. and the device. Let’s take a look.
- Vaping any unknown liquid is totally foolhardy. The CDC has discovered that vaping Vitamin E causes dramatic damage to the lungs, possibly death! Additives may not be entirely safe such as some flavors and additives used for creating huge vape plumes or to thicken or thin a vape liquid can be harmful in large quantity. Dry herb vaping is probably the safest form of vaping for cannabis users but pure CBD should be perfectly safe in moderation.
- Anything overused or over-consumed can turn a potentially valuable aid to health to something dangerous in high doses. This applies to foods, prescription drugs and to vaping too. You need to be aware of how much you CBD or THC you need for you health needs and don’t overuse. Maybe taking a break from vaping and using your CBD sublingually on some occasions is a good idea too.
- Vaping relies on carefully turning volatiles in your juice to vapor which you can take into your body via the lungs. This is best achieved through careful heating and that means being able to control the temperature or set the temperature to the ideal level of heat. If you buy a cheap vape that runs too hot you will overheat and burn the volatiles. This can change them and therefore reduce their effectiveness or even make them bad for your health in a new chemical form. Be aware of this, and buying a vape with temperature control setting is always a better idea. You will also have the advantage of being able to extract different effects from dry herb at different heat settings and from terpenes.
2. Vaping does not produce noxious odors: One reason smoking is viewed as being antisocial is the smell of burning tobacco and the smell this leaves on a heavy smoker or in a smoking area. Vaping eliminates this issue and if you are discreet, people will not even notice you are taking a few quiet puffs. Added to that, YOU won’t smell like a dirty ashtray! Vaping may produce aroma from a flavored vape juice, but this is low key and far more pleasant that the smell of burning tobacco leaf. For most people the smell of the vapor is barely noticeable and you may even be complimented for the smell of a flavored aroma.
3. Control of the dosage and strength: If you are vaping CBD for a health condition of dry herb to help your mood, sleep, focus, create or eat (depending on the strain) vaping will give you full control over dosage. You can select a strength of CBD and fill a cartridge to a dosage level and this means you can set up a daily dosage routine easily which is great for pain management. After time, you may not need the high dosage anymore and you can select a lower dose strength as needed. Despite old beliefs, marijuana is no more addictive than taking aspirin or eating at McDonalds, I would venture to say much less addictive with greater health benefit. Usage and addiction issues are also dependent on the person and their understanding of why they are using cannabis. Approached with a clear and mature attitude, especially with the help of a health professional, vaping cannabis is no more addictive than eating and is not destructively addictive like smoking.
4. Instant relief: The rapid effect and convenience factor is high with vaping. Vaping CBD is far more effective than taking it sublingually or consuming it. You get more out of a milligram by vaping and the onset of effect is much faster. Most vapes are easy to set up and have good battery life when fully charged so taking a dose is convenient and fast while the onset is the fastest possible through vaping.
Now For the Con Side of Vaping
1. So many options is, where do you start?: With so many choices in equipment, e-liquids, styles. It can be hard to process where to begin with a vaporizer choice, let alone what sort of material to vape. Golden rule would be to start by choosing a simple device that is also quality. Temperature selection is important and easy to use. You want quality and temperature control to avoid burning the material you are using by overheating it. A quality basic starter kit that has everything you need is a good way to go, but first determine what you need to vape: CBD oil? Wax or concentrate? Dry herb? Vape shops are happy to help with advice and there are forums online to help too. Most companies that sell CBD oil or concentrate have a starter kit on offer to get you going and there are plenty of articles on how to vape you can find online.
2. The Technology is still improving: Many vaping devices are light weight and cheap while others are extremely well made, high in quality but with a high price tag to match. Vaporizers for different materials categories all operate much the same and are at their core simple devices, but the major technology area that is improving is the battery. Battery life and safety is an important issue and you don’t want a device that you put up to your face to have a problem or catch fire. If you follow the golden rule of buying a quality device and never leaving it switched on in your bag, or charging continuously when already fully charge, then you won’t have a problem. Remember that choosing quality is choosing safety.
3. Perception: Using a vaporizer is given similar legal control and standing as smoking tobacco, but vaping is different and definitely no where near as harmful to your health and in fact vaping is a health aid when used to take cannabis. The downside is that the general public views vaping as having the same health risk as smoking, if not worse, which is not true (depending on what you are vaping and how much). If you vape you may be seen in the same context as a smoker and treated in the same manner socially and legally but smoking and vaping have little in common other than appearance. It should also be noted that secondhand vapor has no health implications for non vape users, unlike secondhand cigarette smoke. You will still be expected to join the smokers in the smoking room where smoking cigarettes is full of tar and carbon monoxide that damage your lungs and cardiovascular system. It is ironic when second-hand vapor has been shown to be non-toxic. Depending on where you are, the legal age to buy vapes is either 18 or 21 years old but in some countries it is not legal at all. You will need to check the rules and laws in the area you live.
4. Repetitive Cost factor: If you are vaping CBD, concentrate or dry herb, you are going to need to keep buying product. The good news is that vaping CBD gives you more benefit per milligram than sublingual use or ingesting it, and the relief affect is faster if you are a medical user. With a quality device, it is a one time purchase and if you use a refillable cartridge or pod you only need to buy more CBD vape juice. Concentrates has much the same story and dry herb you can grow yourself where this is legal, but you will need to set up and buy seeds. Our view is that compared to the cost of smoking cigarettes, vaping is extremely cost effective, indeed cheap by comparison, but has an upfront equipment cost.
5. The Youth Issue: Vaping is seen as part of young adult culture but unfortunately vaping nicotine juice has found its way into youth culture and this is of great concern. Cannabis users are usually less concerned about style, making cloud and impressing peers, but for vaporizers generally the youth problem has brought much bad press and even the attention of the White House and this does not help medical users who understand the relatively benign advantages of responsible vaping.
6. Uncertainty Around health risks: The most long-term study on vaping is 3.5 years. It showed no negative health effects amongst its participants. To fight the bad publicity there needs to be more studies done that are verifiable and impartial. Our major interest is in seeing more studies looking at the health advantages of vaping for medical cannabis users but vaping is still a very young vector system for cannabis so initiating studies and collecting useful data over time will be a long term goal. For users of vaporizers now, there are some unknown risks depending on additives and flavors in CBD oil. Some issues have been identified and additives such as butter flavor and Vitamin E have been removed from CBD vape juice. Still, not all additives are fully understood for longterm use and dosage limits per day. We like to er on the side of caution and advise users to simply avoid any form of additive for flavor or cloud and stick to natural CBD if they can. It should be noted that dry herb vaping is considered the least risk for health and distinctly healthier than smoking cannabis.
7. Media Myth, Bad Press and Scare Campaigns: The main stream media has been running many stories lately around about the issue of vaping and the recent deaths due to vaping untested, unverified illicit E-juice bought the street. The CDC has already identified vitamin E additive as a major issue that can have fatal consequences. The media to some degree is following public opinion and disapproval while using the sensational news aspect of vaping to attract readers. The White House getting involved in the debate has helped to fan the flames. Some stories have a kernel of truth, some are just made up but certainly the issue of youth having access to vapes is a reality and needs to be regulated and restricted for teenagers. Headlines should be looked at carefully and may be true to a point but can inflate isolated problems that can be fixed by sensible regulation and limitation into a huge nationwide crisis or epidemic. The device it not the problem. Education, responsible use and limited access are the issues. We do know that vaping is much safer for you than smoking and for cannabis users, a vaporizer is a truly useful or even vital piece of equipment.
9. CDC investigation and FDA regulations and rules: The CDC has been looking into the recent spate of lung problems experienced by some vaporizer users buying E-juice purchased on the street. The CDC has found problems with vitamin E used as an additive and other issues on content and strength which comes back to the need for statutes to regulate the safety and quality of CBD E-juice. The FDA has on the other hand been given regulatory authority over cigarettes and tobacco in the 2009 Tobacco Control Act. That Congressional act also gave the FDA the ability to define new products as tobacco if they contain “nicotine derived from tobacco”. Now the strange thing about this is that even for e-liquid that has zero nicotine, the FDA requires a disclaimer that the product does contain it, so that covers CBD E-juice also. From this the FDA “deemed” vaping products and e-liquid (and their components and parts) to be tobacco products in 2016 regardless of whether tobacco or nicotine was involved or not. This does not make sense but CBD products are caught in this interpretation of the act where vaping is concerned. The “Deeming Rule” allows the agency to approve or deny which products can be sold. Regulation is necessary, but the risk here is how far the FDA will go with regulation and that may depend on prevailing public opinion where there is a lack of studies to verify the safe use of vaping cannabis products.
What are We to Conclude About Vaping Cannabis Products?
In a nutshell, vaping cannabis products in various forms is relatively safe and very safe compared to smoking. There are some concerns with additives and flavors and also around the amount a person vapes in one day but all medicines and indeed foods are limited to dosage or amount in terms of being useful to health. The issue is one of informed and responsible use for the right reasons. As way to take CBD or dry herb for medical purposes, vaping is the best way to go for many users. Probably the safest form of vaping cannabis is in vaping dry herb and there have been no discernible health problems with this form of vaping.
