Vaping vs. Smoking Weed: Is One Safer? – Healthline

The safety and long-term health effects of using e-cigarettes or other vaping products still arent well known. In September 2019, federal and state health authorities began investigating an outbreak of a severe lung disease associated with e-cigarettes and other vaping products. Were closely monitoring the situation and will update our content as soon as more information is available.

Over the past decade, marijuana laws have continued to change across the United States.

What was once vilified as a potentially dangerous gateway drug is now being recognized by many states (33 plus Washington, D.C., to be exact) as having medicinal properties that can help manage a range of health conditions, from anxiety and cancer to chronic pain and more.

Marijuana is now also recreationally legal in 11 of those 33 states. (Note that marijuana is still classified as illegal by the U.S. federal government.)

In states where marijuana is legal, its being sold mostly in three different ways:

If you live in a state where marijuana is legal, you might be wondering how best to consume it, especially in light of recent federal investigations into the safety of vaping.

Heres what we know.

For decades, health experts warned the public about the dangers of inhaling tobacco smoke from cigarettes, cigars, and pipes.

For marijuana, some research suggests some compounds in it, known as cannabinoids, may have a few benefits.

One of the more well-known cannabinoids is called CBD. For this reason, some people believe smoking marijuana is less dangerous than smoking tobacco.

Cannabinoids, such as CBD, are different from tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the chemical in marijuana that gets a person high.

Inhaling smoke of any kind whether its cannabinoid-containing weed or tobacco or another substance is bad for lung health, according to the American Lung Association.

Most marijuana users hold smoke in their lungs longer than tobacco smokers, putting them at greater risk for exposure to tar which is harmful to the lungs.

Some negative health effects associated with chronic weed smoking include:

Vaping marijuana involves inhaling heated oil through a vaporizing device, often referred to as an e-cigarette. Vaping marijuana can also refer to using a vaporizer, such as a Volcano, to produce vapor from dried plant material.

Some people believe vaping is safer than smoking because it doesnt involve inhaling smoke. But the reality is, when it comes to vaping marijuana, theres much less known about the negative health effects.

The most recent research suggests vaping THC oil could be quite harmful to lung health. The greatest concern at the moment is the severe effects of inhaling vitamin E acetate. This additive chemical has been found in many vaping products that contain THC.

As of Dec. 27, 2019, nearly 2,561 cases of lung injury (EVALI) caused by inhalation of vitamin E acetate, or popcorn lung, have been reported in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and two U.S. territories (Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands) and have led to 55 deaths during that time, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Some of the people affected by vaping illnesses include children.

The CDC recommends people avoid using e-cigarettes and vaping products, particularly those containing THC oil, because theyre likely to contain vitamin E acetate.

Early research shows vaping liquids and oils even once can harm your lungs. Because vaping is new and hasnt been well studied, there could be harmful effects of vaping that arent yet known.

Some states with legal marijuana are proactively warning marijuana users that vaping liquids has been known to cause severe lung injuries and death.

To stay up to date on the latest vaping-related illness news, check the CDC website for regular updates.

There are several ways to smoke marijuana:

When people vape, they consume concentrated marijuana. It seems to be a much more potent delivery system than smoking. In other words, youll get more high from vaping than from smoking.

Researchers have determined that the effects of vaping marijuana are much stronger than smoking.

In one study, researchers found that first-time and infrequent marijuana users were more likely to experience adverse reactions from the enhanced delivery of THC caused by vaping when compared to smoking.

Both smoking and vaping have an almost immediate effect on the body. Their effects peak within 10 to 15 minutes.

Most experts recommend starting vaping or smoking very slowly, taking in a small amount at first and waiting 20 to 30 minutes before having more.

Because the harmful effects of smoking are well known and the health effects of vaping are unknown (and possibly very serious), its understandable that you might want to seek an alternative way to use marijuana.

If youre looking to consume marijuana in the least risky way, ingesting it might be the way to go.

Edible marijuana products, or edibles, can be any food or beverage. They include, but arent limited to:

Keep in mind that ingesting marijuana doesnt have an immediate effect. Having too much can lead to adverse physical and mental reactions, such as:

But when eaten in moderation, edibles seem to have no apparent harmful health effects.

Eating raw marijuana wont have the same effects on the body as consuming marijuana-based products prepared correctly. Marijuana has to be heated in order for its chemical compounds to be activated. Cooking it can do that.

It can take up to 2 hours for the effects of ingested marijuana to hit and around 3 hours for them to peak. Effects are often long lasting anywhere from 6 to 8 hours.

For this reason, its important to start slowly. Consume a very small amount if youre ingesting marijuana for the first time. For example, a common dose for edibles is 10 milligrams of THC. If youre just starting out, opt for 2 to 5 milligrams of THC.

If you seek the purported beneficial health effects of marijuana without the high, you may want to seek out CBD oil and products that contain it. Note: the CDC does not recommend vaping any liquid, including CBD oil.

Note, however, that CBD products arent regulated by the Food and Drug Administration. If you do buy them, its important to do so from a reputable distributor.

While more research on the effects of consuming marijuana is needed, it appears we can conclude that smoking any substance including marijuana is generally not good for you.

New research suggests vaping liquids may also be detrimental to health and can cause serious problems, including death. So, it seems the least harmful way of consuming marijuana may be to eat it.

However, researchers note that long-term marijuana use and THC exposure may increase the risk of psychosis and mental health disorders.

If you want to get the health benefits of marijuana with the least amount of risks, it seems CBD products might be the way to go though you wont get high from using them.

Is CBD legal?The 2018 Farm Bill removed hemp from the legal definition of marijuana in the Controlled Substances Act. This made some hemp-derived CBD products with less than 0.3 percent THC federally legal. However, CBD products containing more than 0.3 percent THC still fall under the legal definition of marijuana, making them federally illegal but legal under some state laws. Be sure to check state laws, especially when traveling. Also, keep in mind that the FDA has not approved nonprescription CBD products, and some products may be inaccurately labeled.

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Vaping vs. Smoking Weed: Is One Safer? - Healthline