Chatting Dry Herb Vaping with Jenna
Let’s talk dry herb vapes for chronic consumers AND beginners.
Smoking cannabis is a part of my daily life, and has been for over a decade. Sometimes I also like to enjoy a cannabis bevvie or edible, but nothing is quite as cathartic for me as hitting my bong or smoking a joint. Knowing smoking is not ideal for my body (and, full transparency, being told to cut back on smoking prior to an elective surgery), I’ve spent the last few weeks trying to swap smoking for dry herb vaporizing. And it’s actually going well! I have tried to make this switch before and abandoned devices because I found them to be unsatisfying compared to smoking. I always feel like the bigger clouds are missing and crave that familiar feeling of smoking, with the strong, immediate high I’m used to. A few things I am doing this time around to make the switch more successful: intention setting, managing expectations, and using a medium to high heat setting.
Set the Intention:
Before you consume, have you ever actively thought, “How am I hoping to feel after consuming this weed?” This might make you want to roll your eyes, but I promise it is such a powerful practice to guide your experience. For example, you could try setting your attention on the typically unspoken reason you’re taking a puff, and set your intention of feeling less tension, finding more patience, feeling more warmth towards your partner, or whatever it may be. After your session, really pay attention to how you are feeling. Keep in mind, the effects of inhalation take 5-10 minutes to peak, you may not feel the effects as much as you want to right away. As the effects intensify, I find focusing on the intention I set earlier really takes away from that feeling of, “but wait, am I high enough?” to “am I getting what I needed from this right now?”
Managing Expectations:
Being mindful and intentional also helps manage my expectations. As I mentioned, I’ve previously felt let down by dry herb vapes. I have to remind myself, you are not smoking, but this will still work! I find dry herb vapes are more of a slow intensity builder. But, if I wait 5-10 minutes, the intensity does eventually match that of smoking - especially if I put my device on a higher heat setting, simply because flavour is not as much of a priority for me. For beginners or connoisseurs who are very into terpenes, I always recommend to instead start on low and work your way up. If you’re someone who hasn’t had the experience of smoking cannabis at all, or maybe haven’t previously enjoyed the experience of smoking, but are looking for a quick onset consumption method, this might be right up your alley!
More about Temperature Options:
Although I love a high heat setting, I don’t recommend high heat for everyone, because you will burn through your product more quickly and the flavour is definitely nicer on a lower heat setting. HOWEVER, during my initial switching over period, I felt I needed the big clouds to replicate the experience of smoking as closely as possible without combustion. There’s also an interesting research paper, which I’ll link here, which suggests that the commonly reported boiling point of THC and CBD is much lower than it actually is (Eyal et al., 2023).
When trying to find your perfect heat setting, it is always a good idea to start on the lower setting and work your way up until you get a nice flavour and effect. Dry herb vaporizers essentially heat up your cannabis like an oven to a temperature just high enough to loosen the cannabinoids from the plant to be inhaled. This helps to lower your risk of inhaling harmful by-products of combustion. Nothing is being lit on fire, just heated. After your session, the cannabis will appear browned, but not burnt. It feels like you are inhaling almost nothing but air at first. As the temperature of the vaporizer increases, you should be able to see the vapour as you exhale, but it is not like the thick clouds produced by smoking. Below is a chart of the boiling points of different cannabinoids. It is recommended to set your temperature slightly higher than the boiling point to feel the effects of that cannabinoid.
Normal Boiling Points (Boiling Points at Atmospheric Pressure) and Vapor Pressure of the Various Cannabinoids and Terpenes (Eyal et al., 2023)
Although more research is always needed to understand the effects of switching from smoking to dry herb vaping, there is certainly a small field of research we can look at. A small non-randomized trial (n = 12) reported significantly improved respiratory symptoms and forced vital capacity (FVC) among cannabis smokers who switched to vaping cannabis for 30 days (Van Dam & Earleywine, 2010). Another cross-sectional study found that vaporizer users were 40% less likely to report respiratory effects like cough, phlegm, and chest tightness than users who smoked cannabis, even after controlling for cigarette use and amount of cannabis consumed (Earleywine & Barnwell, 2007). This early research is very intriguing, and although dry herb vaping isn’t for everyone, it could be a welcomed change in your routine, even if only for a time.
Devices:
There are so many different dry herb devices on the market today. From my experience, they keep getting better and better, and they each have their pros and cons. I have personally only experimented with handheld devices, but there are also “tabletop” options for folks who are dry herb vaping more often, or need a higher volume of cannabis in a session. That feels like the next step for me, if I continue on this trajectory. Things you may want to consider when purchasing a device are cost, whether you foresee only using at home or on the go, temperature range/controls, size of chamber (most handheld options hold 0.5g), and ease of cleaning. I highly suggest cleaning your device (or anything you smoke out of - bong, pipe, etc) at least daily. This is the kindest thing you can do for your lungs, as bacteria can grow quickly in dark sticky environments (read my bong cleaning post for a gross, cautionary tale). My current dry herb vape of choice is the Arizer SE because of its glass insert and how easy it is to keep clean. It’s unbelievably smooth with its long mouthpiece, but I don’t find it ideal to transport, as I worry about cracking the glass piece. If I’m going out on the town, I might grab my Pax 3 just because of how sleek it looks - but cleaning her is a bit of a process, so it’s never been my go-to for daily consumption.
I can seriously go on and on and on just nerding out over dry herb vaping, as a surprised convert! As always - there are no silly questions at P&L and we are happy to talk through any questions you may have about devices, the benefits and downsides of dry herb vaporizing, or truly anything else! Thanks for reading!
References:
Earleywine, M., & Barnwell, S. S. (2007). Decreased respiratory symptoms in cannabis users who vaporize. Harm Reduction Journal, 4(1), 11.
Van Dam, N. T., & Earleywine, M. (2010). Pulmonary function in cannabis users: Support for a clinical trial of the vaporizer. International Journal of Drug Policy, 21, 511–513.
Vaping360.com - https://vaping360.com/learn/optimal-temperature-to-vape-weed/
Eyal, A. M., Berneman Zeitouni, D., Tal, D., Schlesinger, D., Davidson, E. M., & Raz, N. (2023). Vapor pressure, vaping, and corrections to misconceptions related to medical cannabis’ active pharmaceutical ingredients’ physical properties and compositions. Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research, 8(3), 414–425. https://doi.org/10.1089/can.2021.0173