By now, we suspect that you understand that the Volcano is the world’s leading vaporizer. The gold standard for desktop vaporizers, with a design that allows for clean, pure vapor that’s required for medical marijuana. If you’re prescribed medical marijuana, you need clean vapor for the best flavor and health benefits.
The Volcano’s system allows for precision temperature control, which is the key behind the unit’s health benefits.
You’ll be able to adjust the temperature between 104F and 446F with 2.7-degree accuracy.
Why does this matter?
Vaping vs smoking is different.
Vaping vs Smoking: The Benefits
When you smoke, you’re breaking down your marijuana and causing a chemical reaction. The smoke production is what causes the damage when smoking cigarettes. When smoke enters the lungs, the breakdown of tar causes your lungs to blacken.
But with vaporization, you’re inhaling the vapor and not the smoke.
This means:
- First-hand Smoke is less potent, causing much less internal damage to the user.
- Second-hand Smoke is practically nonexistent, allowing you to smoke without harming others.
In terms of a cleaner way to get the same benefits of medical marijuana without the side effects, nothing can compare to vaporization.
Common Health Issues From Smoking
Smoking has been shown to cause issues, mostly respiratory in nature, to smokers. A person who smokes may often suffer from “coughing” and they may be more susceptible to:
- Cancer
- Heart disease
Estimates suggest that 6 million people worldwide die per year due to smoking, but this is a cigarette issues primarily. With that said, some of the health issues from cigarettes do translate to similar issues when smoking marijuana, so there’s always cause for concern when smoking anything.
Vaping Shown to be Healthier
Vaping can still cause dependence, but there are no proven studies to show that vaping causes any of the same health problems that smoking does. The long-term effects of vaping have not yet been proven, but the Public Health England published an article finding that:
- Vaping is at least 95% safer than smoking
While vaping liquids can cause a dependence on nicotine, there have been no concrete studies that show vaping marijuana causes any form of dependency.
Studies are being presented that show vaping vs smoking is far safer for a person. California NORML mentions a 2004 study that was posted to the Journal of Cannabis Therapeutics, which has a few remarkable findings that change the way people will look at vaping forever.
The study focuses on a few key findings.
- Volcano’s vaporizer, when vaping the marijuana at a temperature too low to cause combustion, was found to produce much higher levels of THC than smoking normally.
- Smoking marijuana in the traditional sense contains 100 additional chemicals that enter the body.
- Patients can avoid the hazards of smoking via the Volcano.
Additional studies prove that vaporizing marijuana can help to reduce the harmful chemicals that enter into the air via smoke. The toxins in the smoke are far less prevalent when vaporizing.
How so?
One study examined the gas that’s produced through vaporization. The study examines the different components of the gas to find which chemicals are present. The study found that 95% of the gas or vapor was THC.
Traces of cannabinol was present, too.
There were three additional substances found in the vapor:
- An additional cannabinoid, or so the researchers believe.
- A suspected PAH.
- A fragrant of the plant.
What this shows is that there are over 100 fewer chemicals in marijuana vapor than there are in cigarette smoke. There’s also the major benefit of such a high and pure THC level. THC is released and responsible for the high and relief that a patient experiences when they take medical marijuana.
Since these levels are higher, this means that the marijuana is far more potent.
The study focusing on the Volcano specifically proves just how well the device works to transform a substance into vapor. What’s even more surprising is that the study uses older technology of the Volcano, meaning the updates to make the system even more efficient were not implemented yet.
When tested, it was found that it took just 45 seconds to turn the marijuana into 46% THC vapor. The capture of the balloon system was also responsible for trapping more marijuana into the vaporizer.
Volcano doesn’t include a water filter, which will make the vapor even cleaner and less harmful to the user. If the accessory is purchased, it will help clean the vapor further and allow for an ultra-clean vapor, although this isn’t necessary.
You can choose to use the whip method or balloon method when vaping.
The whip method allows for added customization, but the original method utilized the balloon method to determine the overall vapor quality and THC content of the vapor.
The byproducts of combustion are the key factors in smoking causing health problems. Vapor, while it may cause addiction when nicotine vapor is used, does not contain the same byproducts as smoking simply due to a lack of combustion occurring.
When using medical marijuana, studies show that it’s generally safer and more effective to use a vaporizer over any form of combustion simply because of the lower levels of byproducts in the vapor. You’ll be able to use medical marijuana in a safe, noncombustive manner while avoiding the possible risks of lung disease, cancer, coughing and other harsh conditions.
Vaporization has also been linked to faster relief, the flavor is more noticeable and it’s far more discreet to vape than it is to smoke. You’ll also find that there is less product waste in the process, leading to slight savings in money, too.
We wanted to update the research on the dangers of smoking for 2023 thanks to one of our old most trusted resources on preventing teenage smoking, Smoking Stinks.
Fast Facts
It’s a fact. Teens get hooked on tobacco every day. They don’t realize that trying cigarettes can lead to a life long addiction. The tobacco companies don’t want you to know that; they want you to think smoking is cool. Read on and get the facts for yourself.
What teens think about smoking:
The majority of teens think most of their peers smoke. In reality, 88% of teens are nonsmokers.
Teens want to influence their younger siblings and young children not to smoke.
By being aware of tobacco industry marketing efforts, young people can be better prepared to resist them.Over 3,000 teens and preteens are sucked in daily:
Every day, approximately 3,450 teens in the U.S. try their first cigarette. About 25% will become daily smokers.
One in eight teens smokes cigarettes daily.
Smoking addiction starts at a young age. More than 80% of adult smokers began smoking before 18 years of age.Bad for your looks:
Smoking ages your skin faster. It’s second only to sun exposure for giving you wrinkles.
Tar, the sticky brown substance in tobacco products, stains smokers’ fingers and teeth.
Smoking makes you stink! Your hair, breath and clothes smell bad.Bad for your health:
Smoking is linked to slowed growth of lung function in teens. They cannot run as fast or far. Smokers suffer from shortness of breath three times more than nonsmokers.
Tobacco abuse harms every organ in the body. It has been linked to leukemia, cataracts and pneumonia, and accounts for about one-third of all cancer deaths.
People who smoke cigarettes are 20 times more likely to develop lung cancer than nonsmokers.
Cigarette smoke is toxic and poisonous to the human body. It contains about 7,000 chemical agents, including almost 70 that cause cancer.
Some of the toxins found in cigarette smoke are found in items such as rat poison, toilet cleaners and formaldehyde, which is used to preserve dead animals.
Not feeling good (and your parents smoke)? Every year, secondhand smoke causes more than 202,000 asthma episodes and 790,000 doctor visits due to ear infections.It’s a killer:
Every hour, more than 50 Americans die from smoking cigarettes. That’s about 440,000 people a year.
Smoking kills babies. Every year in the U.S., about 2,000 deaths from SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) are linked to secondhand tobacco smoke.
Of kids now under 18 who live in Maryland, 108,000 will ultimately die prematurely from smoking.
More deaths are caused each year by tobacco use than by HIV, illegal drug use, alcohol use, motor vehicle injuries, suicides and murders combined.
On average, smokers die 13 to 14 years earlier than nonsmokers.The bad news about addiction:
Nicotine is a drug found naturally in tobacco. It’s as addictive as heroin and cocaine.
It takes only 8 seconds for nicotine to reach the brain.
Teens can experience tobacco dependence within a day of first inhaling, including strong urges to smoke, and anxiety or irritability.
It’s hard to quit: only 12% of teen smokers who tried to quit were able to do so successfully.
Some people smoke because they think it helps them relax. A new study suggests otherwise – smoking actually triggers stress. The truth is that smokers are addicted to the nicotine in tobacco; as the nicotine from one cigarette wears off, they start to crave another and become nervous and tense. Doesn’t sound very relaxing!Tobacco sales and marketing to teens is big business:
Every year, cigarette companies spend $13.11 billion on advertising and promotional expenses. This is equal to $36 million per day!
Tobacco companies intensely market to teens. Why? To find replacement smokers for those who die or quit.
Young people in the United States watch an average of three movies a week, which contain an average of five smoking episodes each, adding up to about 15 exposures to smoking a week. Young people may be exposed to more smoking in movies than in real life.
Each year tobacco companies spend $188.8 million trying to attract new young smokers in Maryland.
The average pack-a-day smoker pays $6 per pack, adding up to $2,190 per year. That’s a lot of money to pay to hurt yourself.
What is environmental tobacco smoke?
Environmental tobacco smoke includes secondhand and thirdhand smoke:
Secondhand smoke comes from burning cigarettes, cigars or pipes, or smoke exhaled by a smoker.
The concentration of chemicals in secondhand smoke is actually higher than the smoke inhaled directly from cigarettes. This means that if you live or hang out around smokers, you breathe the same stuff they do-and more!
Why it’s harmful:
Secondhand smoke contains more than 4,000 chemicals including carbon monoxide, formaldehyde and hydrogen cyanide (the stuff they use in a gas chamber). Who wants to breathe air filled with poisons?
It makes you more likely to get sick with everything from colds to pneumonia. You could miss out on a lot of fun stuff being sick all the time!
Secondhand smoke can give you cancer or heart disease, and if you have asthma it can make it much worse. Because your lungs are still growing, secondhand smoke may permanently hurt your ability to breathe. This can make playing sports and running a lot harder.
Thirdhand smoke: When tobacco is burned toxic smoke particles cling to surrounding areas long after the smoke has cleared.
Studies show that these particles react with pollutants in the air to release cancer-causing toxins. The smell of tobacco on a person’s clothes and hair or in room is how our nose warns us that toxins are present!
There is no safe level of exposure to environmental tobacco smoke. If you have parents, relatives or friends who smoke, ask them not to smoke indoors or in the car, even if the windows are open, smoke can still get trapped inside.
Tip: Try to keep the conversation polite and cool. You’ll get better results from a discussion than an argument.Yeah, smoking stinks. It stinks up your breath and your clothes. But it really stinks because smoking causes cancer, lung disease, heart disease … and death!