Vaping: A Healthier Alternative to Smoking?

What once began as a debate among enthusiasts has now found itself in the hands of the scientific community: the “vaping versus smoking” standoff. Given the rising popularity of weed vaporizers, numerous longitudinal studies and scientific investigations have gone underway to answer the question at hand: is vaping a healthier alternative to smoking?

After extensive health-related data and longitudinal examinations, the general consensus finds that vaping is a healthier alternative to Conventional Smoking methods. Stress, of course, must be placed on the term “healthier alternative”. This is not to say that using a vaporizer has been scientifically proven to have no health consequences – only that it has been proven to have less than conventional smoking.

Why exactly is vaping a healthier alternative? Let’s find out:

Why Burning is Not the “Hottest” Method

Many people agree that vaping is a suitable alternative to smoking – particularly due to the avoidance of combustion.

You see, traditional smoking takes place due to the extremely dangerous process of combustion. Combustion involves the burning of your product at an extremely high temperature. The resulting smoke that is produced from this burning is then inhaled.

However, inhaling burnt product is extremely unhealthy. When smoking in this conventional manner, up to 80% of the smoke you are inhaling into your body consists of toxins and other dangerous chemicals. This means that as little as only 20% of what you’re smoking is the element that you want to smoke itself. A recent scientific investigation suggested that when you smoke in the traditional manner, you inhale up to 2000 different chemicals, of which many of these are carcinogens (poisons). Combining these two facts shows that when you smoke in the conventional manner, up to 80% of what you are smoking are these 2000 dangerous and unhealthy chemicals. Combine these carcinogens and toxins with the high levels of tar produced when smoking and it is clear to see that traditional smoking is an extremely dangerous and unhealthy cocktail to take into your body.

To learn more about the risks of conventional smoking methods, visit the American Cancer Society to learn more.

Vaporization: The Healthier Alternative?

When you vaporize your dry herbs or your E-liquids, the process avoids the dangers of combustion associated with conventional smoking. Vaporization entails the heating up of substances so that a vapor is formed. The resulting vapor that is formed is then inhaled into your body.

This vaporization over combustion removes most of the extremely dangerous carcinogens and toxins that accompany conventional smoking. For conventional smoking, as little as 20% of smoke consists of the product you are actually smoking. However, for vaporizing, this statistic rises as high as 95% product purity, with the leftover 5% containing mostly natural oils found in common plants.  

A recent comparative and longitudinal study found that long-term users of vaporizers had substantially reduced levels of measured carcinogens and toxins relative to smoking only combustible cigarettes.

Furthermore, scientific experiments in two American universities showed that people who chose to use a vaporizer over the traditional methods of smoking were up to 40% less likely to display negative health symptoms attributed to smoking, specifically when it comes to respiratory diseases.

However, the healthier nature of vaporizing in relation to these two processes relies on the vaporizer that you are using. Cheap and poorly designed vapes can reach temperatures exceeding the ideal vaporizing temperature and can cause the combustion of your product (rather than vaporization), thus creating the same dangerous toxins and carcinogens as conventional smoking.

A Healthier Alternative for Everyone

When you smoke conventionally you endanger not only yourself but everyone else around you. Everyone, at some point in their lives, is exposed to secondhand smoke and thereby runs the risk of developing the same cardiovascular and cancer risks.

However, with vaping, second-hand smoke no longer runs the risk of affecting the lives of your loved ones. In a recent study published in the Journal of Chromatography, researchers supported the theory that secondhand vaping does not exist and that there were less volatile compounds exerted than the normal exhaled breath!

In addition to the absence of second-hand smoke, vaping also reduces the risks of pollution and littering. Without nasty cigarette buds littering the floor (and other herb discards), vaping proves to be both conscientious of the people around you and of the world around you.

A Smart Choice: Vaping Will Save You Time and Money

Vaporizing is far more efficient and potent than conventional smoking. And this fact further contributes to the argument that vaporizing is healthier than smoking. If 95% of smoke is pure, rather than 20% of smoke, as is the difference between vaping and smoking, every time you inhale when vaping, you receive 4x the amount of direct product when vaping (rather than when smoking in the traditional manner). This is far healthier on a purely mathematical basis as you are, over time, introducing far less potentially dangerous substances into your body.

This argument does, however, also risk the opposite, in that the increased potency can be dangerous to amateur smokers who are unable to manage the transition and increase in potency.

Overall, in the vaping versus smoking standoff, the debate really comes down to choosing between the lesser of two evils. While vaping may have health consequences, these consequences are far less in comparison to smoking. By removing the process of combustion, numerous harmful carcinogens are also removed. Most people will agree: vaping proves to be the far more conscientious choice concerning your loved ones and secondhand smoke, pollution and the environment, and cost-effectiveness. Make the smart choice for your health and your wallet – switch to vaping. For more information on dry herb vaping and how you can make the switch, visit The Vape Guide.