Vaping is when the plant is turned into a vapor of some sort, like an oil, resin, wax, etc. then smoked. Before vaping, people burned the flower and smoked from a bowl or bong. Vaping cannabis is actually a lower risk alternative to smoking cannabis, especially for habitual cannabis users. It does not eliminate the cognitive, cardiovascular, mental-health, dependence, or driving risks associated with THC itself.
Cannabis Vaping as Harm Reduction: What the Research Shows
Smoking remains the most common method of consuming cannabis, but burning cannabis produces carbon monoxide and other toxic combustion byproducts. Because of those respiratory risks, harm-reduction guidelines have recommended vaporizers as an alternative to smoking.
The strongest argument in favor of vaping concerns the lungs. Vaporizing dried cannabis can reduce exposure to carbon monoxide and toxic compounds such as benzene, toluene and carcinogenic hydrocarbons. One small study of cannabis smokers who switched to vaping for 30 days found improvements in respiratory symptoms and lung function. Another long term study found vaporizer users were about 40% less likely to report cough, phlegm and chest tightness than cannabis smokers. While these studies are still ongoing, they show positive results. The advantage of vaping becomes less clear when looking beyond respiratory health. Both smoking and vaping cannabis increase heart rate, and the long-term cardiovascular effects of vaping remain uncertain.
Vaping also does not protect users from THC-related cognitive and psychomotor impairment. Infrequent cannabis users have sometimes experienced greater impairment after vaping than smoking. Cannabis use is also associated with impaired driving performance. The authors therefore conclude that vaping should not be considered safer than smoking when it comes to driving impairment.
An especially important finding concerns inexperienced users. When identical THC doses were compared, infrequent users sometimes developed higher blood THC concentrations and stronger subjective effects from vaping than smoking. Experienced users may be better able to adjust or “titrate” their dose, while new users may unintentionally consume substantially more THC.
For medical cannabis, vaping may have advantages because it can provide better bioavailability than oral cannabis while avoiding combustion. However, the authors say more research is needed concerning standardized dosing, long-term health outcomes and vaping-related lung injury.
Bottom Line
Vaping dried cannabis may represent a legitimate harm-reduction strategy for people who already regularly smoke cannabis because it can reduce carbon monoxide, toxic combustion products and chronic respiratory symptoms. But vaping should not be interpreted as making cannabis harmless. THC-related cognitive impairment, mental health effects, impaired driving and dependence remain concerns, and inexperienced users may actually experience stronger effects from vaping.
People should look at cannabis vaping primarily as a potential substitute for smoking—not as a risk-free method of cannabis consumption.