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Posted by Laurie Pawlik-Kienlen May 20, 2007 |
Cannabis does relieve chronic pain and is legally prescribed in some places. I wonder if vaporizing instead of smoking it would affect users. For instance, is there something in the "toking" of a marijuana cigarette that contributes to the high? Psychologically speaking, of course. Maybe you know what I mean: the whole feel of rolling the marijuana, sealing it up, and sparking a joint can be part of the whole enjoyable high. It's the anticipation, the preparation, that's part of the fun.
Of course, patients who use marijuana to reduce pain may not be interested in the process of rolling and smoking joints. In fact, participants of one study found vaporized marijuana to be quicker and more efficient -- plus it has fewer side effects.
In this study, University of California (San Francisco) researchers discovered that vaporizing marijuana instead of smoking it leads to the same biological effects. That is, it alleviates chronic pain -- but it doesn't expose patients to harmful toxins like smoking does. Participants in this study preferred vaporized marijuana to smoking it, which may mean the process probably isn't part of the end results for them.
But the high is the same.
Vaporizing marijuana doesn't sound as illicit and exotic as smoking it, though. Maybe that's an added benefit: it's not as cool, so people may not seek when they don't really need to. When I think of vaporizing, I think of Star Trek, not marijuana.
Maybe if these female serial killers had a toke or two, they'd be less likely to murder.