To Vape Or Not To Vape? Is Vaping Good Or Bad For Your Health?

Joints vs. Vapes

 

Whether you have been prescribed medical marijuana, use it religiously, or blaze for recreational purposes, we have all been hit with the burning question (pun intended), is it better to smoke marijuana or vaporize it? Although there are many forms of ingesting the medicine such as eating medical marijuana “edibles”, for those who want to avoid eating extra food to get their marijuana fix, inhalation is the preferred method. Smoking marijuana has always been the norm by conventional standards both for recreational and medicinal purposes.

With the latest glance at the daily news, people see images of their favorite celebrity or in some cases politician, smoking a “blunt” on stage or have been caught blazing a “joint” in a picture from their college years. In the last decade however, vaporizing devices have inundated the market and have shifted the culture into being more conscientious about their cardio vascular health by providing safer alternatives to marijuana use.

Vaporizing

Vaporizers come in different shapes and sizes, some of which you can put on your coffee table and others you can carry in your pocket on your way to the movie theater. Numerous methods of vaporizing are available on the market today, ranging in price from $20-$300 depending on caliber of the device and the quality of vapor extracted from the herb.

Although price may be an issue to someone with a low budget, the vaporizing process cuts out up to 95% of smoke toxins from the mist that is inhaled, which can prevent lung harm and potential risk for disease in your later years.Not only are a majority of harmful toxins and chemicals excluded, but 95% of the THC is absorbed in the first few seconds compared to minutes needed to feel the effects of smoked marijuana.

The way vaporizers work is that they only get the cannabis hot enough to release the most important aspects of the plant as vapors. Marijuana begins to combust at about 392 degrees Fahrenheit, where as in most vaporizers, the ideal sweet spot for vaporization occurs at 338 degrees, right below smoke temperature. Users tend to “sip” the vapor through their particular device of choice,  rather than “smoke” the medicine.

Smoking

Smoking is the more prevalent way that marijuana is ingested. Marijuana that is smoked is usually done so by using rolling papers, blunt wraps, pipes, water pipes, or concentrate pipes. Price ranges for most smoking devices can range in a few cents for single joint paper  to a few  hundred dollars for high end pipes.

Most people have the false impression that holding in marijuana smoke will somehow make you feel “higher”. Research has shown that this is in fact not the case, and that users can get just as high by taking “shallow puffs” without jeopardizing the harsh feeling on their lungs.Smoking anything  will eventually if not immediately cause irritation of the lungs which according to most medical marijuana doctors, can be a cause of a more serious lung conditions later on in life.

The major difference between smoking marijuana and vaporizing, is that smoke contains substances other than beneficial ones found in the plant, where as vaporizing reduces these substances drastically. Studies have shown that there are no known risks in the marijuana plant that pose a risk to human health; however, smoking the herb can lead to possible respiratory conditions later in life from the continual irritation of the lung tissue.

 

Super Bowl XLVIII aka Marijuana Bowl, Stoner Bowl, Doobie Bowl

Timing is everything isn’t it?  Just when we voiced our opinion at Dat Dank about the NFL Commissioner’s comments about possible marijuana legalization in the NFL, destiny brought us a Super Bowl featuring the Seattle Seahawks vs. the Denver Broncos.  For those of you who have been keeping up with marijuana legalization, you may have put one and one together and noticed that these two teams represent states that are on the forefront of recreational marijuana legalization.  For those of you wondering why people are calling it the weed bowl, marijuana bowl, stoner bowl, or bong bowl, if you haven’t already heard, Colorado was the first ever state to legalize recreational marijuana regulated by the state government with the state of Washington soon to do the same.

What makes this significant in sports? Well nothing in particular because marijuana is still categorized as a banned substance in the NFL  and any other professional sports for that matter.  But what makes it significant at Dat Dank is the fact that, as  Seattle Pi puts it:  These two states aren’t “the only two states in the union (and two of only three places on the planet) where marijuana is not only legal but have a budding legal system for growing and selling will face each other in the Super Bowl.”  And with the statement made by Roger Goodell (Commissioner of the NFL)  regarding the possible legalization of medical marijuana use among players in the future, the Denver Bronco and the Seattle Seahawks facing off in  the Weed Bowl, er, Super Bowl in New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium couldn’t have come at a better time for marijuana advocates and supporters in the United States.  I’m not complaining but imagine this game was played at Mile High Stadium back in Denver, we would be talking conspiracy as opposed to a high coincidence.

So this year, fill up the Doritos bowl, and pack a fat bowl, cause this game’s gonna be a doobie!

Why You Should Buy a Bubbler Pipe for Smoking Marijuana

Bubblers have since been the mystical method for smoking Marijuana to me.  Why is it mystical you might ask?  On first look to a novice it may look like a fancy pipe but for those that have marveled over the glasswork, you could get lost in the twists and turns funneling into multiple chambers, a water reservoir, and eventually getting you blazed.  Most people commonly use pipes, bong or simply roll a joint and blaze it the good ol’ traditional way to get high.   This article was written for those of you who haven’t smoked from a bubbler before, just give me 1 minute of your time.

Bubblers can be an alternative and fun method for smoking and should be used to add variety to your smoking experience.  Bubblers are usually alot smaller than your standard bongs and have a bowl, similar to that at the end of a pipe, which is removable and is located at the top of a cylinder (I’m sure you’ve seen it before). It is then inserted inside the bubbler and the bubbler is partially filled with water at a point above the cylinder object. A person then lights the bowl. Smoke then travels through the water and into the mouth of the user when he or she releases their thumb from the base of the bubbler. The water helps filter the THC and also decrease the temperature of the smoke that is inhaled.  So in the end its kinda like smoking a the lovechild of a bong and pipe.   But in my opinion and the opinion of many other bubbler users, the end result is a smoother smoke than that of a pipe.  Be careful though, as the water in the bubbler gets dirty real fast and if you pull the smoke too hard, you are likely to inhale some of that skunked water as well.  I recommend cleaning out the bubbler and emptying the water after every smoke session to ensure a great experience every time, but who am I kidding, that never happens.  So just make sure you clean it out once every few uses to keep your bubbler just as majestic as when you first saw it on the store shelves or in your online shopping cart.  Having a larger than pocket sized bong is just down right convenient.  Your hits are likely to not be as strong as fat as your bong hits but they will get the job done especially if you have some good bud.  No go fill that bubbler up with some water and let it rip!