Medical Marijuana Facts

As the number of people seeking medical marijuana treatment grows, safety issues about side effects will likely remain hot topics. With the improving technology of vaporizers, smoking cannabis is not considered the healthiest way to ingest the herb. While eating or drinking the herb are the safest ways to use cannabis, the following reasons explain why vaporizing has become a viable alternative for medical marijuana patients.

Why Vaping Cannabis May Be Better Than Smoking It

1. Avoiding Dangerous Toxins in Cannabis Smoke

The most important reason for using a vaporizer instead of smoking cannabis is to avoid the dangerous carcinogens released through smoke in the lungs. Even though research has pointed to cannabis smoke being less dangerous than tobacco smoke, there is still concern that cannabis smoke can cause damage to the respiratory system. Vaporizing bypasses this issue while providing the psychoactive ingredients of cannabis, retaining the medical benefits.

Using a vaporizer is safer than a joint partly because a joint uses paper that contains chemicals that produce carcinogens when smoked. The manner of holding pot smoke in the lungs is also not healthy compared with a vaporizer. Some people choke or cough when they breathe in smoke, whereas once again, the vaporizer eliminates the problem.

2. Getting More Cannabinoid Benefits Through Vaporizing

You actually inhale more psychoactive ingredients, known as cannabinoids, from a vaporizer than smoking cannabis. In fact, a vaporizer preserves 95 percent of the cannabinoids while smoking the herb means inhaling gases in which nearly 90 percent are non-cannabinoid. The key is that a vaporizer dehydrates cannabis while releasing the psychoactive ingredients without harmful smoke.

When cannabis is lit on fire its compounds dissipate into the air. As cannabis burns, the resource is used up and a certain percentage of the herb goes to waste. Compared with vaporizers, smoking cannabis can be more costly in many ways. More THC goes toward health benefits when using a vaporizer.

Vaporizing is most effective when cannabis is heated to 338 degrees compared with smoking a joint at 392 degrees when the leaves begin to combust. It’s combustion that creates the smoke that causes lung cancer and other respiratory problems. A joint can burn as hot as 2000 degrees, whereas a vaporizer is designed for a set temperature. In order for cannabinoids to be effective, cannabis must be heated to a certain temperature.

3. Elimination of Cannabis Smoking By-products

Even careful smokers can cause damage to property by accidentally burning something. People who smoke indoors inevitably damage furniture, walls and windows. Smoking frequently can also stain your teeth, which can affect your appearance. When it burns your clothes it can mean replacing them prematurely. It also leads to time cleaning clogged pipes, ash trays and other physical items affected by smoke.

Another problem with cannabis smoke is that it produces a strong smell that doesn’t go away easily. If you live in an apartment or near neighbors, the smell of marijuana may be an uncomfortable topic that creates friction. The amount of work it takes to clean up the mess that cannabis smoke makes may not be worth it. If you deal with a busy schedule, vaporizing is clearly the more time efficient way to use cannabis.

One of the greatest benefits of vaporizing is that you can remain incognito about your cannabis use as it does not give the obvious signals of use from smoking. By eliminating a lighter, you are also reducing the chance of starting an unwanted fire. Compared with vaporizers, smoking cannabis has too many safety issues to ignore. Vaporizers, on the other hand, give you the maximum health benefits of cannabis with minimal side effects.

Medical marijuana is surrounded by controversy. Many experts believe that cannabis is a safe alternative to pharmaceuticals for relieving symptoms related to many illnesses. These experts have scientific studies, medical organizations, and government reports to back up their point of view. Others on the other hand, argue that medical cannabis is too dangerous, that it could lead to addiction or abuse of harder drugs, it doesn’t have FDA-approval or that legalization is just a front for recreational drug use. The politics associated with the so-called war on drugs in the country have forced the issue in the hands of the governments, rather than with patients and doctors, where the decision should ultimately lie.

Why Cannabis Should Be Legalized

1. The Benefits Far Outweigh the Risks

Peer-reviewed, evidence-based studies have proven that cannabis can be beneficial to patients suffering from illnesses such as AIDS, cancer, glaucoma, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injuries and many other serious, debilitating, or terminal conditions. The properties in marijuana can greatly relieve chronic pain associated with these illnesses. Additionally, many patients have tried the typically prescribed drugs during their suffering and have found little to no positive results. For some, medical marijuana is the only substance that can lift their suffering so they can lead manageable, happier, and more fulfilling lives.

2. It’s Safer than Pharmaceuticals

Cannabis is natural, while pharmaceuticals are filled with a wide variety of chemicals that most people cannot even pronounce let alone fully understand. These chemicals can lead to myriad side effects for the patients who use them. Pain killers can be severely addictive and ruin patients’ lives, while other mainstream drugs can cause gastrointestinal issues, allergic reactions, blindness, internal bleeding, organ failure, and even death from complications or overdose. Many patients simply cannot handle the daily and long-term side effects of prescription drugs. With medical cannabis, patients can reap the benefits of managing their symptoms without having to worry about addiction, overdose or, serious side effects that aren’t worth the risk of pharmaceutical drugs.

2. Legalization Means Government Control

If the first two reasons why medical cannabis should be legalized don’t sway government officials or other people who are strictly against it, then understanding how legalization can help societies as a whole might be a more effective argument. If medical marijuana were legalized, governments would be able to ensure that patients are receiving safe, high-quality cannabis and would not have to risk the potential dangers of finding it on the street. Additionally, they could properly control doses, track its use on a large scale, and place taxes on its sale in order to increase government profits. Legalization would also ease the restrictions on research so that more scientific studies on the subject would be allowed to be conducted, leading to better understanding of its long-term health benefits and limitations as a medical prescription.

The Choice Should be Yours

Marijuana has medicinal properties that greatly relieve many patients’ pain and suffering related to serious and terminal illnesses. For some, medical cannabis is the only drug that works. It’s safe and natural, and doesn’t create dependence or nasty side effects. From a governmental standpoint, legalization would create strict control over the sale, tax, and doses of medical marijuana, which benefits everyone. Regardless, the choice of using or prescribing medical cannabis should rest with the medical community and its patients, not the governments.