Vapor vs Smoke

Combustion releases smoke and cancer-causing carcinogens that damage your mouth, throat and lungs. Vaporizers heat herb just below burn temperatures, releasing THC and other medically active cannabinoids with few or none of the carcinogenic tars and noxious gases in smoke.

Labs studies by California NORML and MAPS have found research supporting this. See the charts below for the exhaustive list of chemicals.

Vapor analysis found 36–61% THC, an efficiency that compares to marijuana cigarettes. Vapor consisted overwhelmingly of cannabinoids, with trace amounts of three other compounds. Combusted smoke contained 111 other compounds. Results indicate that vaporization can deliver therapeutic doses of cannabinoids with a drastic reduction in smoke compounds.

Smoking vs Vaporizing Pros and Cons

smoking	vaporizing
stinks like smoke	faint smell
bad taste of burning ash	mild flavors of earthy flowers and aromas
messy: burn marks, ashes and stains everywhere	clean: vaporized herb is dried brown and easy to discard
harsh	mellow

How Vaporizing Works

Vaporizers heat herb below burn temperature, releasing THC and other medically active cannabinoids with few or none of the carcinogenic tars and noxious gases found in smoke. Vaporizing is subtle — vapor hardly smells, there are no dirty ashes to clean-up or spill on the floor and vapor quickly disappears into the air, producing only a hint of flavor in your mouth and good vibes all around.

A Brief Step-by-Step Photo Guide

Start by grinding your herb. This helps vaporizing because the air has more surface area coverage of the plant and releases more cannabanoids.

1. 

   Turn your vaporizer on to warm-up the heating element. Patience is a virtue, so wait until it’s hot and ready.

2. 

   Load vaporizer with herb; here we’re using Da Buddha vaporizer and using the wand to inhale or "suck up" the ground weed.

3. 

   Inhale slowly using steady breaths to draw the warm vapor into your mouth and lungs. Don’t be distracted, find focus and be attentive.

What Vaporized Marijuana Looks Like

• 

  1. Ready for Grinding:
  Notice the color, lush green and fresh looking, not too wet or dry; this will grind nicely.

• 

  2. Freshly Ground:
  A medium-fine grind. Most vaporizers are more efficient with finer grinds, so a few extra grinds help.

• 

  3. After 5 Hits in the Vaporizer:
  These first hits are the strongest and most flavorful. By now the herb looks light brown with some faint green. Some people stop here.

• 

  4. Already Been Vaped (ABV) After 12 Hits:
  Done. The brown monotone color looks depleted, the herb is dry and crispy to the touch.

• 

  5. Fully Cached After 20+ Hits:
  Feeling desparate? Turn up the heat and draw the final few burnt hits. The herb color is dark brown — it’s fully toasted, and so are you.

Read Our Vape Guide →

Further Reading

These reports and official sources offer researched and objective information about the health benefits of vaporizing.

• Study says "Smokeless" Vaporizers are "Safe and Effective" (from 2007) Also here
• California Normal page on vaporizers
• Marijuana as Medicine: The Science Beyond the Controversy. For the Institute of Medicine