It took some getting used to at first, but vaping has grown in recent years. But, they still remain a bit of a mystery to many users who may not fully understand how they work and what vaping products can offer them. Here's everything you need to know about the pros and cons of a CBD cannabis vape.
What is Vaping?
Over the past few decades, vaping has become extremely popular, and because of this, most people are quite familiar with the concept.
If not, vaping involves using an e-cigarette to heat a liquid or raw plant material into a vapor that can be inhaled.
Vaping can be done with CBD E Liquid , Cannabis Extracts, Flowers and Tobacco. When you vaporize real herb or tobacco, the vaporizer will heat the plant matter enough to produce that vapor using heating methods called convection and conduction . Since the product does not burn, it makes for a much cleaner and safer experience than smoking.
Although interest in vaping technology has really exploded recently, the idea behind it is much older than most people realize. One of the first patents for an electronic device for vaporizing plant compounds was filed in 1927 by Joseph Robinson. The device was never marketed and, in fact, no one knows if Robinson ever produced a prototype. But the idea was there.
The 20th century saw the emergence of many other vaporizer designs. Some of the most popular include the "Shake and Vape", a glass tube with a bulb designed to vaporize weed that was invented by Cherokee healer Eagle Bill, and the famous Volcano Vaporize , released in 2000 by Storz and Bickel . which is really popular with smokers. Everyone knew at least someone who had a Volcano back in the day, and it still remains one of the iconic vaporizers on the market.
A few years later, in 2002, Chinese entrepreneur Hong Lik invented the electronic cigarette. Met with much skepticism at first, it is now a must-have.
Conduction or convection vaporizer?
Above I mentioned convection and conduction which are two possible heating methods used in vaporization. It's relatively simple, but I wanted to go over each process in a bit more detail.
In conduction heating , the substance comes into direct contact with the heat source. Think of it like boiling water - you apply heat to the pan, which then boils the water from the bottom up.
In a conduction vape, the source is a ceramic or metal coil that heats the chamber, then the chamber heats up and vaporizes the product.
Convection vaporizers are the opposite, they work by indirectly heating the flower or concentrate. Like an oven, the air in the chamber is heated and then steam comes out of the device.
Convection vaporizers heat the product during the draw, and since the heating element is separate from the bowl or chamber, the heat is applied more evenly and there is less risk of burning the product.
Although convection heating seems to be the better of the two, most vaporizers on the market use conduction heating.
Convection vaporizers often take longer to heat up the product, so it will be slower and possibly less comfortable and stealthy. But that seems to be the only downside to using a convection vape.
Another category of vaporizer has recently emerged, it is a hybrid system that combines the speed of heating of conduction and a better vapor of convection.
A READ Guide How To Choose The Best CBD Vaporizer
Is vaping safer than smoking?
Vaping is touted as a safer alternative to smoking, but how safe is it really?
Naturally, much of the anecdotal evidence suggests it's much healthier for the lungs. There is certainly a lack of randomized controlled trials comparing the effects of smoking cannabis products with vaping (or vaping with smoking in general).
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However, while vaping is arguably safer than smoking, it is not without risks. Let's face it, ideally you shouldn't be breathing anything but oxygen into your lungs. But we do, so our goal is to do it as safely as possible.
However, there are some things to consider when vaping that could potentially make it even less safe, such as adding vitamin E acetate or other fillers in unregulated vaping products.
As for tobacco, the majority of studies have shown that e-cigarettes are safer, but not without risk. E-cigarettes heat nicotine (derived from tobacco), flavorings and other chemicals to create an aerosol that you inhale.
Regular tobacco cigarettes contain 7,000 chemicals , which are much more toxic in comparison. We're not sure exactly what chemicals are in e-cigarettes, but vaping exposes you to fewer toxic chemicals than smoking traditional cigarettes.
The Pros and Cons of a CBD Vape
Let's first look at the negatives and positives of vaping real cannabis using a dry herb vaporizer.
advantages :
- You get the benefits of vaping with the classic feel and aroma of using real flowers.
- Thanks to the lower temperatures, you benefit more from cannabinoids and terpenes (which are destroyed with combustion), resulting in much stronger aromas and better terpene profiles.
- There are fewer odors to worry about. Many vaping devices are discreet and portable and you don't have to worry about that super pungent cannabis smoke smell.
the inconvenients :
- One of the main concerns for people who want to switch to dry herb vaping is the initial cost. A quality device can cost up to several hundred dollars.
- Weaker effects compared to smoking (although it depends on the person. Personally, I prefer the effects of smoking, but some small studies, like this one conducted by the Behavioral Pharmacology Research Unit at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center in 2018 d ., argue that vaping actually leads to stronger intoxication).
Conclusion
Vaping is one of the fastest growing trends in the cannabis industry. not only because it is considered safer than smoking, but also because it offers a level of discretion and variety that simply cannot be achieved with flowers.
That's not to say that vaping is the perfect alternative to cigarettes, as it's not for everyone, but it can certainly be a great addition to your consumption of cannabis products.
