Medical cannabis patients in most states have access to a variety of delivery methods, including vaping and dry heating. Smoking is generally not allowed, and with good reason. But what about vaping? If you don’t like smoking due to its negative effects on human health, should you be any more comfortable with vaping?
The Potential for Lung Damage
Utah is one of the states that has banned smoking medical cannabis but still allows vaping and dry heating. Here’s the difference, according to Beehive Farmacy, a medical cannabis pharmacy with locations in Salt Lake City and Brigham City:
- Vaping – The practice of vaping involves administering THC using an infused liquid and a specialized heating device. The vape pen he’s the liquid until it becomes an aerosol that can be inhaled by the user.
- Dry Heating – Dry heating combines a specialized heating device with cannabis plant material. The device heats the material to a temperature high enough to release THC without inducing combustion.
On its website, the Utah Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) says that “vaping can increase the risk of lung injuries, especially if you use a vape cartridge or pen instead of whole cannabis flower.”
Safer Than Smoking, Maybe
The question of whether vaping medical cannabis is safer than smoking goes back to another question we have been attempting to answer for close to 20 years: is nicotine vapor safer than cigarette smoking?
After many years of study, the general consensus is that vaping might be safer than smoking tobacco. Both processes produce chemicals that users inhale. But combustion produces many more, and some of those chemicals are known carcinogens.
Still, medical science is not ready to declare nicotine vaping 100% safe. Such a position is justified whenever people are inhaling foreign substances. But we must be careful to apply the same skepticism toward vaping nicotine and medical cannabis.
Just because medical cannabis is the current darling of alternative medicine doesn’t mean it is risk free. And just because marijuana users have been smoking joints for decades does not mean that we should blindly accept cannabis vaping.
There Are Alternatives
When it comes to the tobacco issue, it’s clear that neither tobacco nor nicotine are the real problem. The problem is smoke. Combustion always produces chemicals that are bad for the lungs. The same holds true for marijuana. The real concern with marijuana smoking is the smoke itself. But now we have the added concern that comes with vaping. Fortunately, medical cannabis patients have alternatives.
At both Beehive Farmacy locations, patients looking to avoid vaping and dry heating can consider:
- Capsules and tablets
- Gummies and other edibles
- Tinctures and concentrated oils
- Topical preparations
Each type of product represents a different delivery method. The thing to note is that delivery methods can impact medical efficacy. A chronic pain patient might experience pain relief using a topical medication. Meanwhile, that same product probably wouldn’t do anything for a PTSD patient.
Avoid Vaping if You Can
Based on everything we know about smoking and vaping it makes sense to avoid them both. Smoking is never a good idea. As for vaping, there are other alternatives medical cannabis users can look at. It is best to avoid vaping if possible.
If not, vaping is probably safer than smoking. That explains why states have banned smoking medical cannabis but are okay with vaping and dry heating. It’s a matter of risk. The risks associated with vaping and dry heating appear lower. Therefore, regulators deem them worth taking in order to reap the benefits of medical cannabis symptom relief.
