Is vaping better than smoking cannabis?

A reader asks: Which method is better? Smoking or vaping? For better results of the product?

Dr. Lenny: The short answer is vaporising cannabis is much more potent than smoking it.

When cannabis is vaped, twice as much THC can be detected in the blood at the peak of the high compared to smoking.

But is everything about vaping better? Not entirely…

Vaping cannabis can:

• Add 26 beats per minute to your heart rate compared to 19 beats per minute when smoking. Coffee adds 3.

• Give you a dry mouth and red, dry itchy eyes

• Make you more paranoid and feel less motivated and vigorous than if you smoked

• Impair your ability to divide your attention, do maths, and problem solve

These additional effects cannot be explained by the higher levels of THC in the blood when vaping. We don’t actually know the cause. Hopefully more research can explain them soon.

On the upside, vaping exposes you to fewer toxins than smoking which may make you sick.

Unfortunately we won’t know what the longer term effects of vaping are for some time. There are clinical trials currently recruiting participants looking into long term vaping, but we may have to wait a lifetime to see the results!!

In short, smoking cannabis is probably making you sick, while vaping cannabis seems safer and more potent, but is more likely to make you paranoid and unmotivated.

DISCLAIMER: This newsletter is not financial or medical advice. It is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell anything or to make any financial decisions. Please do your own research and do not buy anything dodgy.