Vaporizing and other ways to avoid smoke

Smoke, even if cooled, is irritating to the mouth and air passages. Cannabis smoke contains carcinogens (cancer-causing agents).

Fortunately, there is an alternative to smoking cannabis called vaporizing that avoids nearly all carcinogens but offers the rapid relief previously found only by smoking. Cannabis releases medicinal vapors above 140 C (284 F) but doesn't release benzene and other carcinogens until it reaches 200 C (392 F), and will not combust
(burn or release smoke) until it reaches 230 C (446 F).

This means if a device gently cooks cannabis at 140 to 190 C (284 to 374 F), one can inhale the herbal medicine in the smokeless vapor without inhaling the carcinogens found in smoke.

However, some persons do not tolerate inhaling any medicine.

One way to minimize the risk of irritation to the airways is to ingest cannabis by mouth. Cannabis must be heated to be activated, and can be cooked into foods. Cannabis tinctures, both alcohol and non-alcohol based, act more quickly than ingested Cannabis. Ingested and tinctured Cannabis require an hour or so to take effect, but the effects can last 4-8 hours, or more.

The long duration of action of ingested or tinctured Cannabis is useful for people treating predictable symptoms. Some people are intolerant of the more psycho-active effects from ingested and tinctured Cannabis. This effect is related to the body’s transformation of a component of Cannabis into a different active compound.

Newer routes of medical Cannabis are in development, and include transdermal devices (skin patches), and inhalers. Topical application of Cannabis poultices (moist mixtures of Cannabis, using oils, and heated, as above) provide relief to localized areas of pain, such as neck, low back, or arthritic joints).

We recommend outdoor, organic “bud-leaf.” Bud-leaf, or top trim, contains a more favorable ratio of pain-relieving and anti-cancer cannabinoids, specifically cannabidiol (CBD) than the buds. Outdoor under natural sunlight results in the healthiest marijuana, for you and the planet (no fossil-fueled energy source required).