Medical cannabis can be consumed in a plethora of ways, depending on your preference. You can consume it in baked goods or drinks, with a water pipe or rolling papers, in pill form or as a nasal spray, and of course, with a vaporizer.
Some of the perceived benefits of using a vaporizer include:
- Less smell: Cannabis has a strong and earthy smell that some people find bothersome. Vaporizers aren't totally odorless, but they do minimize the smell because the cannabis isn't burned.
- Easy to use: Vaporizers can be less messy and require fewer steps to use. In general, all you need to do is keep the vaporizer charged and loaded with oil, wax, or herb.
- Wastes less cannabis: Especially when compared to pipes and joints, vaporizers require less cannabis to achieve the desired effects. Doses are more potent, so you do not need to inhale as much.
- More affordable: The upfront cost of purchasing a vaporizer can be more expensive, but cannabis concentrates last much longer than herb that is combusted.
- No secondhand smoke: Vaporizing THC products does reduce the amount of carcinogens that others in the vicinity are exposed to. However, THC can still be detected in secondhand vapor.3
- Consistent doses: THC concentrations are often more consistent from one inhale of a vaporizer to the next, and the effects are almost instant. Conversely, it can take up to three hours after eating an edible to feel any effects at all.
- Cleaner hit: Vaporizers may offer a purer and more potent hit than combusted cannabis, and the vapor may contain fewer toxins. Granted, this is only the case if the THC product is not contaminated with anything harmful.
- Accessible in more places: Vaporizers can often be used in parks and public spaces, outside of work, in the home, or other places where cigarette or cannabis smoke is not tolerated.
Does Vaping Offer Health Benefits Over Smoking?
Smoking anything—be it tobacco or marijuana leaves—is inarguably dangerous to your health. When you smoke, you inhale very hot pieces of debris that irritate the sensitive tissue in your lungs. Burning leaves can also cause chemical reactions that lead you to inhale potentially toxic compounds, some of which are linked to cancer.
Vaporizers don’t burn anything. Instead, they heat up THC-containing substances until they’re hot enough to create an aerosol—but not so hot that they combust. Compared to the hot, harsh smoke produced by burning leaves, the aerosol made by vaporizers can feel much smoother on the lungs.Understanding the Different Conditions Medical Marijuana Can Treat
Warnings About Vaping
Vaping weed might seem like a less harmful alternative to smoking, but it’s not entirely harmless. In addition to the health risks associated with THC, vaping itself can be potentially damaging to a person’s health.4
In early 2019, people started presenting to the hospital with a severe respiratory illness that led to lung injuries. So far, the illness has been linked to the use of THC-infused vaping products in 80% of cases. According to the CDC, 2,807 cases were reported as of February 2020, and of those, 68 people died. The illness has now come to be known as EVALI (e-cigarette or vaping use-associated lung injury).
Investigators believe EVALI could be linked to vitamin E acetate additives that are used in some counterfeit THC products. They have also detected pesticides, opioids, poisons, heavy metals, and a fungicide that turns into hydrogen cyanide when combusted. The exact cause of EVALI is still under investigation.