Vaporized Cannabis Less Toxic, As Effective As Smoked Form

Huffing vaporized cannabis provides as much pain relief as smoking a joint -- and it is safer. Inhaling from a Volcano Vaporizer results in little to no measurable lecels of exhaled carbon monoxide (CO), a measure of toxicity, whereas smoking a cannabis cigarette does.

“Using CO as an indicator, there was virtually no exposure to harmful combustion products using the vaporizing device. Since it replicates smoking’s efficiency at producing the desired THC effect using smaller amounts of the active ingredient as opposed to pill forms, this device has great potential for improving the therapeutic utility of THC,” said study co-author Neal L. Benowitz, MD, [University of California, San Francisco (UCSF)] professor of medicine, psychiatry and biopharmaceutical sciences. He added that pills tend to provide patients with more THC than they need for optimal therapeutic effect and increase side effects.

UCSF researchers published data earlier this year showing that smoking cannabis reduced pain caused by HIV-related neuropathy, which occurs in about one-third of HIV affected patients. There is currently no FDA approved treatment for HIV-related neuropathy.

According to Jeff Sheehy at UCSF, one of the main advantages of cannabis (over pills, for example) is that it allows patients to
"titrate" their dose -- patients using cannabis can use it and get real-time feedback; when their pain stops, they stop using.

Earlier Wired Science coverage demonstrated that THC interferes with the function of the interior frontal cortex, which normally allows us to control inappropriate behavior.

(See a demoof the Volcano Vaporizer.)

Smokeless Cannabis Delivery Device Found Efficient ad Less Toxic [UCSF News Office]