With the advent of “e-cigarettes” and the legalization of medical marijuana in many states comes the natural debate regarding the safety, efficacy and benefits of smoking marijuana vs. vaporizing it. It’s not entirely clear and settled yet, but here are some points to consider.
In an article on JAMA Network Open, (here) a placebo-controlled crossover trial conducted in healthy adults who infrequently use cannabis was reviewed regarding a comparison of acute effects of smoked vs vaporized cannabis at 2 different doses and some interesting findings were observed.
The literature has long supported the fact that smoked or vaporized cannabis (marijuana) has a much quicker but shorter lasting effect upon users than do oral or ingested routes of consuming the medicine. Keep in mind that every medicine has a variety of effects, some of which will be more desirable than others. Medical marijuana has the ability to create unwanted effects, especially in novice users. This article observed patient impairment across the domains of memory, attention, and psychomotor function.
In both “low dose” THC of 10 mg, and a “higher dose” of THC at 25 mg, vaporizing the product led to a greater number of measurable impairments than smoking. They stated that medicinal users and the doctors advising those patients should be aware of the potential for vaporization to produce stronger effects, including adverse effects.
The bottom line is that when initiating vaporizing, patients may be wise to begin with lower doses.
One final note. The article specifically mentioned that the plant matter used in this study contained a very low proportion of cannabidiol (CBD) relative to THC. In the future we will specifically look at how the ratios of THC to CBD in your natural medicine can affect your results, and what ratios may be helpful to you and your condition.
