How do different methods of consuming marijuana lead to alternative health outcomes?
A lot of people tend to group marijuana into one category. In reality, it comes in different forms and ways of smoking it. Marijuana could lead to dangerous outcomes when consumed without any knowledge.
Different type of Marijuana
People often have misconceptions about thinking that marijuana is a uniform product. Unlike how people think, they come in different appearances, concentrations, and health risks.
Flower
It is in a plant form and is used to roll into joints or put in bowls to smoke out of a bong. It usually has low THC compared to other forms.
Dabs/Concentrates
It comes in the form of wax consumed with bongs and nectar collectors. It usually has a way higher concentration of THC than flower, often having 80 percent higher concentration than other products.
Cannabis oil
Cannabis oil is another form of concentrates used to put in disposable vapes and carts. They usually have a higher concentration than flowers, but lower than dabs.
Edibles
Unlike the other forms, which are directly harmful to the lungs, edibles are consumed through the digestive system. It takes longer for the effect to kick in, but it usually hangs around longer than other forms.
Method of Consumption
Different ways of consuming marijuana can affect your body in different ways, depending on how they are used.
Joints and Blunts
The marijuana flower is rolled into the paper or a wrapper and lit. The THC goes through your lungs and directly to your bloodstream, so it only takes a few minutes to feel the effect. The high usually goes away quicker than other methods.
Bongs
It usually involves using a glass nail to put the flower or dabs in. When smoking out of a bong, the smoke is filtered through the water, giving you a smoother feel. People often take bigger hits and tend to inhale longer since the smoke feels “smoother”, and it could get you higher than you expected, often causing paranoia and anxiety.
Vaping Marijuana
Vaping is a method that has become popular recently, and it involves smoking cannabis oil out of a vape cartridge. It operates just like how normal vapes would, not requiring any equipment as the other methods would. Instead of burning marijuana, it heats and vaporizes the oil. It feels smoother and seems safer to use than other methods.
Edibles
Unlike all the other methods, it is consumed through the digestive system, and it usually takes around 30 minutes to an hour to kick in.
Alternative Health outcomes
Different methods of consuming marijuana can lead to different health outcomes
Joints and Blunts
Joints and blunts involve inhaling smoke directly into our lungs, and it could pose a serious risk to our lung health. Marijuana smoke contains similar toxins to those in tobacco smoke. Blunts are also often rolled in cigar tobacco wraps, which contain nicotine, which could trigger the gateway effect and possibly form an addiction to nicotine. According to the American Lung Health Association, smoking blunts or joints can damage our airways and lead to chronic bronchitis.
Vaping Marijuna
A lot of people believe that vaping marijuana is safer since marijuana is not burned directly; however, when vaping marijuana, oil is burned and it creates a vapor. The vapor could potentially cause lung irritation and chemical exposure. According to the Learn about Cannabis website, the vape cartridges or the oil can contain toxic additives, or it could have a thinning material when heated that releases harmful chemicals. Because vaping marijuana is smooth, people tend to overdo it and consume more THC than they usually do. Vaping marijuana too much can easily cause paranoia and anxiety.
Using Bongs
Just like vaping carts, bongs are believed to be safer than other smoking methods because the smoke gets filtered through the water. The water can cool the smoke down, making it easy to inhale, but it really doesn’t remove all the chemicals as people believe. It also poses a different risk because of how smooth the hit is. People tend to inhale deeper and take bigger hits, which can damage their lungs and airways due to smoke going down deeper into their system.
Consuming edibles
Edibles pose different types of health risks than all the other methods mentioned above. Because edibles are consumed through the digestive system, not inhaled, it doesn’t have any effect on the lungs. Edible usually takes 30 minutes to an hour to kick it. A lot of people tend to think that the effect isn't wrong enough or it isn't kicking in, so they take more. Taking too much of a dose at the same time could lead you to extreme highs and panic attacks. Based on a Healthline article, it also states that the effect lingers longer than other methods, which can be hard to manage for some people.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the method of smoking marijuana can greatly change the health outcomes and different risks involved. Marijuana is not just one simple substance; it comes in different forms and ways of consuming it. While some methods might look safer than others, it still hurts your physical and mental health. They all affect the body differently because of their THC concentration and ways of entering the body. Individuals often look for a safe way to smoke, but after this research, it shows that there are really no safe ways to smoke or consume marijuana. It all comes with different risks and bad health outcomes.
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