As cannabis becomes more popular, 420 enthusiasts are searching for new ways to enjoy their favorite green herb. The damaging side effects of smoking have made many individuals want to switch consumption methods—one being vaporizing weed.
Is it better for you? How do the techniques differ?
We weigh the pros and cons of making the change below and share other alternatives to get your dose of marijuana. Discover the safest way to enjoy those juicy buds you grew from female weed seeds.
Table of Contents
How Do Smoking and Vaping Differ?
They might seem similar since you inhale using both methods—but they’re not.
Smoking is still the most common way to enjoy weed. Consumers roll their cannabis into a joint or learn how to make a bong, pack it, and light up. The heat burns and combusts the marijuana before it travels as smoke down your throat and into your lungs.
Vape pens get filled with a concentrate or cannabis flower. As you heat the vaporizer, you release cannabinoids—CBD and THC.
Is Vaping Weed Better for Your Health?
Let’s dig deeper into vaporizing weed vs. burning it. The damaging effects of smoke on your respiratory tract are no secret, no matter what source it comes from. As you inhale, hot debris enters your lungs, irritating the sensitive tissue.
When you burn leaves, like those in cannabis buds, it also causes a chemical reaction. This process means you potentially inhale toxic compounds that have been linked to cancer. This risk increases when you add tobacco to the mix.
Vaporizing cannabis doesn’t burn anything. It heats the compounds inside the cartridge and creates an aerosol rather than combusting the product. Without the burning part, you avoid the toxic byproducts of smoking. The result also feels smoother in your lungs.
Is vaping weed bad?
It’s not entirely harmless. Marijuana aside, the act of vaping can potentially damage your health. In 2019, 2,807 cases of individuals going to the hospital for a severe respiratory illness that led to lung injuries were reported. Sixty-eight of them died.
The condition was named EVALI (e-cigarette or vaping use-associated lung injury).
Vaping products and fluids may also contain harmful ingredients that aren’t always stated on the packaging, including:
- Carcinogenic elements
- Heavy metals
- Flavorings like diacetyl
- Ultrafine particulates
To ensure you purchase the safest products possible, get yours from a weed dispensary.
Vaping Cannabis Pros and Cons
We weigh the benefits and negatives to help you decide whether to switch from smoking to vaping. Make the right choice by determining your budget, preferences, and convenience. Advantages to vaping include:
- A vaporizer is a much more convenient way to carry your weed around. The pens hold a cartridge prefilled with cannabis concentrate or bud. That means no more grinding and rolling a joint every time you fancy a puff.
- Vaping cannabis is discreet. The pens easily fit in your bag or pocket to toke on whenever you like. They produce no smoke, and the smell is nowhere near as potent.
- You enjoy the full range of terpenes more through vaping—perfect if you love the flavor of marijuana. When you light a joint, you burn a lot of the taste away. Vaping also has the added benefit of being able to mix in your other favorite flavors.
- Get your money’s worth with vaping. Use the already vaped bud (ABV) again by making tea or edibles. Alternatively, save it for emergencies when you have nothing else to smoke or vape.
It’s clear vaping boasts many advantages as a consumption method, but there are a few negatives, too:
- When starting on your vaporizing journey, the costs are higher than smoking. For a quality vape pen, you need to spend $100 minimum. If you buy a refillable model, e-juice canisters are a must. You also need a grinder to get a fine weed consistency.
- Vape pens run on batteries, which can die on you when out and about. Charge it regularly to last a few sessions at a time.
- Although many consumers claim vaping cannabis provides a “cleaner high,” many argue it’s less potent than smoking.
Vaping Cannabis Options
Most consumers refer to vaping devices as pens, but they come in three different formats—herb, oil, and wax.
Add dried buds to a herb vaporizer. The heat creates the perfect temperature to avoid burning the weed and minimizes damaging tar or carcinogens. Some pens come with a temp setting to control what you inhale.
You add concentrate extracted from the marijuana plant to an oil vape. The oil often gets mixed with other carrier oils, like hemp, and is a top choice for first-time users.
Wax pens contain the semi-solid substance extracted from weed crops. It’s more potent than the other types but has a higher price tag.
Different Ways to Enjoy Weed
If you want to avoid inhaling cannabis altogether, there are options. We’ve put together the top alternatives to smoking and vaporizing weed.
Edibles
Use cannabis oils, butter, and extracts to add to your cooking. The lack of smoke means no lung damage, but these products are harder to dose. They take longer to take effect, so wait an hour or two before eating more.
Tinctures and Oils
Administer these alcohol- or oil-based extracts directly under your tongue. A few drops take effect within 20 minutes and are easy to dose with the dropper.
Topicals
Consider a topical if you use weed to treat a specific spot of pain or inflammation. Creams, lotions, oils, and patches are easy to apply to any affected area and work quickly.
It’s Up to You
Now you know the pros and cons of weed vaping, it’s your decision whether to switch from smoking or not. There’s no doubt vaping is better for your lungs, but it still poses potential risks to your health.
Alternatively, pick one of the other suggested consumption methods to avoid inhaling altogether. Cannabis boasts many potential benefits, so grab some seeds, start growing, and find the right way to consume for you.
Jennifer Gallagher
Jennifer Gallagher, an experienced cannabis grower at SeedSupreme Seedbank. During a 7-year career in the marijuana growing business, Jennifer has gained a high competence in this field. As far as weed is concerned, she knows it all inside out. Jennifer is an expert in pot-growing, as well as cannabis types and their effects. She’s also familiar with all legislation nuances. vaporizing weed