Is It Safer Than Smoking?

Vaping marijuana is often touted as safer than smoking it. That’s because vaporizers heat—but don’t burn—herb, oil, or wax forms of marijuana inhaled through the device. However, vaping marijuana isn’t safe in general, and in some ways, it may be more dangerous than smoking weed.

Both smoking and vaping marijuana generally have been considered safer than smoking cigarettes (or vaping with nicotine products, which may introduce new health hazards rather than reducing all harm). When it comes to vaping marijuana, “safer” may not be true, either.

This article looks at the potential harms of vaping marijuana, how to identify them, and how vaping marijuana compares to vaping nicotine.

What Are Marijuana Vapes?

Marijuana vaporizers are typically pen-like devices with an opening to inhale the vapor from tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) oils, or to use marijuana concentrates made from parts of the cannabis plant that contain high THC levels.

The vape heats up the product but keeps it below the threshold of combustion. People inhale the vapor or aerosol, but the lack of smoke doesn’t necessarily make CBD vape pens safe.

There are different types of marijuana vaporizers:

• Disposable vape pens: These lightweight pens are pre-filled with cannabis oil and can be used out of the box. The entire pen is disposed of once the oil is used up.
• Refillable vape pens: These pens come with a rechargeable battery and a refillable cartridge to use the cannabis oil of your choice. Some have adjustable voltage and temperature controls. 
• Dry herb vape pens: These pens consist of a heating chamber that you fill with dried marijuana flower rather than cannabis oil. Instead of turning the flower into smoke, it heats it below combustion so that a potent vapor is produced.
• Dual-use vape pens: These pens have both a heating chamber for dried flower and a refillable cartridge for cannabis oil.
• Dab pens: These pens have a coiled heating element that vaporizes cannabis oil concentrates. These include concentrates called “budder,” “crumble,” and “shatter” which respectively have a a buttery, crumbly, and brittle texture.

In addition to marijuana flower and cannabis oil, there are synthetic cannabinoids made in the lab that you can use in vaping cartridges or mix with dried flower.

Is Vaping Marijuana Safe?

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says vaping of any kind can cause or contribute to lung disease. Serious cases of EVALI (electronic cigarette or vaping product use-associated lung injury) have been linked to vaping cannabidiol (CBD) oil.

CBD products are largely unregulated, so it’s possible that the oils contain dangerous substances.

Some people prefer to vape marijuana due to the milder smell, ease of use, affordability, and dose consistency. Some studies suggest that in some ways (lower carbon monoxide risk, for example) it may be safer than smoking. With what’s known about it right now, though, experts say it isn’t safe—or even safer— to vape marijuana.

EVALI: Potentially Fatal Lung Injury

The risk of damage increases significantly if your vape product contains a chemical called vitamin E acetate. In 2019, an outbreak of severe lung disease from vaping was largely blamed on this vitamin.

In the first few months, more than 2,500 people were hospitalized or killed by EVALI. Among those people:

• 82% had vaped products that contained THC, often along with other vape products.
• 33% exclusively vaped THC-containing products.

The CDC and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommend against all vaping but especially recommend not vaping THC oil.

The risk is greater from illegally manufactured or modified vape products, which are more common in states where marijuana remains illegal. However, even with legal products, vaping THC oil just one time can significantly harm your lungs.

Some experts say chest X-rays of people with EVALI show signs of lung irritation by oily chemicals, which could include both vitamin E acetate and THC oil itself.

Much remains for researchers to learn about EVALI. What’s clear so far is that vaping is involved and vitamin E acetate is not the only culprit.

EVALI and Legal vs. Illegal Products

Vaporizer products purchased from a dispensary may be safer than black market vape products. In terms of the EVALI outbreak in the United States, studies show there were:

• 1.7 cases per million people in states where recreational marijuana is legal
• 8.8 cases per million people in states where only medical marijuana is legal
• 8.1 cases per million people in states where marijuana consumption is prohibited

The numbers suggest recreational users who don’t have access to a dispensary are more at risk of developing EVALI than those who have access to a dispensary.

Risk of Side Effects

Marijuana-containing vape products contain concentrated forms of the plant, which means THC levels are many times higher than in the highest-quality marijuana. That makes vaping them especially likely to cause negative side effects or long-term health problems.

• Addiction: Marijuana actually can be addictive. About 30% of users are estimated to have substance use disorder.
• Impaired brain function: Marijuana use has an immediate effect on thinking, attention, memory, coordination, and perceptions of time.
• Impaired brain development: Exposure during pregnancy, childhood, or the teen years may impair the brain’s ability to build connections, which affects attention, memory, and learning.
• Cancer risk: Vaping or smoking marijuana may contribute to the development of lung cancer.
• Driving: Because marijuana impairs your reaction time, decision-making, coordination, and perceptions, it’s unsafe to drive after using it.
• Heart health: Marijuana raises the heart rate and blood pressure, so it could increase your risk of stroke and heart disease.
• Mental health: Frequent, high-dose use may cause anxiety, paranoia, temporary psychosis (disconnection from reality), schizophrenia, depression, and suicidal thoughts or behaviors.

Vaping THC oil is linked to an additional set of side effects, especially in frequent users. They include dry eyes and mouth, increased hunger, and feeling sick, drowsy, or restless.

Harmful Ingredients

In addition to vitamin E acetate, several non-marijuana-based ingredients you inhale can harm your lungs. 

The FDA hasn’t regulated vaping cartridges as tightly as other products. Ingredient lists don’t always disclose everything in the product, so you don’t always know what’s in vaping fluids. 

Some harmful ingredients used in vaping products include: 

• Heavy metals: The tiny coils that heat the vaporizer are made of metals that can break down over time, so you may be inhaling heavy metals.
• Carcinogenic (cancer-causing) compounds: Some chemicals used to suspend THC or make a “vapor” can release potentially dangerous, cancer-causing compounds when they’re heated. 
• Ultrafine particulates: While there are less than in pipes or cigarettes, vaping fluids do contain tiny particulates that, when inhaled, get deep into the lungs and cause irritation. 
• Flavors: Added flavors in many vaping products contain such fluids as diacetyl, which has been linked to serious lung issues when inhaled.

Flavors and other ingredients may combine to form harmful chemicals when heated.

Vaping Marijuana vs. Vaping Nicotine

Smoking anything—be it tobacco or marijuana leaves—is inarguably dangerous to your health. When you smoke, you inhale very hot pieces of debris that irritate the sensitive tissue in your lungs.

Burning leaves can also cause chemical reactions that lead you to inhale potentially toxic compounds, some of which are linked to cancer. 

Vaporizers don’t burn anything. Instead, they heat substances until they’re hot enough to create an aerosol—but not so hot that they combust.

Compared to the hot, harsh smoke of burning leaves, the aerosol made by vaporizers can feel much smoother on the lungs. But that doesn’t mean they’re safer.

Which Method Is Safer?

When it comes to the question of whether it’s safer to vape or smoke, it’s a matter of degrees of danger. It’s not safe to smoke or vape anything.

With nicotine-containing products, vaping may be safer than smoking. It involves fewer hazardous chemicals and results in less lung damage. Still, it’s far from safe and can lead to nicotine addiction and potentially fatal lung disease.

With marijuana products, though, that doesn’t appear to be the case.

• Smoking marijuana harms your lungs, but vaping marijuana appears to be even worse.
• What’s more, vaping marijuana appears to be more dangerous than vaping or even smoking nicotine products.

After conducting a study published in 2021, researchers said they were surprised to find that vaping marijuana was even worse than using e-cigarettes. Among adolescents, marijuana vaping was significantly more likely to cause symptoms of lung injury.

Safer Ways to Consume Cannabis

You can use marijuana without either smoking or vaping. Where cannabis is legal, you can buy it in many different forms that are considered significantly safer.

Edibles

To make edibles, cannabis extract oils or butter can be used to cook or bake any number of sweets, savory foods, or even beverages. No smoke means no risk to your lungs.

However, dosing can be tricky. It can take about two hours to notice an edible’s effects. It’s common for people to think the product isn’t working and take more. That can lead to dangerous side effects.

So if you’re using edibles, be patient and don’t eat more while you’re waiting.

Sublingual Forms

Several forms of cannabis products are used sublingually (under the tongue.)

Tinctures are alcohol-based cannabis extracts that are often cut with hemp oil or CBD (cannabidiol) oil. They can be just as potent as edibles but kick in faster.

You just put a few drops under your tongue and generally feel the effects within 20 minutes. Tinctures should come with a dropper that makes it easier to keep doses consistent.

Other sublingual forms include:

• Mouth sprays
• Dissolvable tablets
• Strips or films

Suppositories

Suppositories are products designed to be inserted into the rectum or vagina, where they release the drug as they dissolve.

Rectal cannabis suppositories are sometimes used to treat:

Vaginal suppositories can also be used to treat:

A benefit of suppositories is that they don’t get you high.

Teens and Vaping Marijuana

The Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) warns that vaping is an emerging public health threat where American teens are concerned. The DEA research numbers reported in 2018 show:

• Among 12th-grade students, 37.3% reported vaping of any type in the previous year’s time. It was up 10% over the previous year.
• Marijuana vaping was at 13.1% among 12th-grade students.
• More than 10% of eighth-grade students had vaped in the previous year.

Most teens report using vape devices for nicotine, or flavored products only. However, the DEA urges teens (and the adults who care about them) to understand the potential health consequences.

Resources are available to schools and families to help them identify vape devices, how they’re used, and the safety and health risks they present.

Summary

Research and the EVALI outbreak suggest that vaping marijuana is dangerous in general and may actually be more dangerous than vaping nicotine products or even smoking cigarettes.

This may, at least in part, be due to ingredients of vape products, including vitamin E acetate, flavorings, and other additives.

Safer ways to consume marijuana include edibles, sublingual products, and suppositories.