Is marijuana smoke as bad as tobacco?

@fauxpause
There are three concerns here.
It was thought early on that vaping was "safer than smoking"
https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/wellness-and-prevention/what-does-vaping-do-to-your-lungs
Second, the "flavoring" is an unregulated irritant being ingested into already damaged lungs.

Finally, if he is buying in a vape shop as opposed to a regulated dispensary, and using the vape "at will" he doesn't really know how much THC he is getting

If he needs THC to enhance pain control, there are other ways to do it - gummies and other injestables.

Of course the vaping is an added irritant to his lungs!!!!!! Have him get a consult for a pain management physician and/or tell his Pulmo that his pain is uncontrolled.

@sueinmn I mean technically the study's still say vaping is slightly better than smoking just not as much as they used to believe they're now saying it's 9 times better rather than 95% better like they used to say.

Also all those of vape related deaths that caused that mass hysteria a few years ago were from Black market THC vape carts that were laced with vitamin e acetate and hexane fuel that came from the Chinese Black market to the US Black market overseas and not from store-bought vaporizers.

And this is actually confirmed by the people that actually studied those cases which is both the FDA and the CDC also got involved.

That being said, vaping regulated vaporizers isn't risk free but it still has a lower risk of lung cancer, a lower risk of heart disease, and a lower risk of stroke not to mention that E-liquid has less of the popcorn lung chemical Diacetyl than cigarettes does.

One cigarette contains anywhere from 300 micrograms to 430 micrograms of Diacetyl whereas one disposable vaporizer has 9 micrograms Diacetyl on average so that whole popcorn lung argument is completely loaded.

That being said all the studies on vaping are done on nicotine vaporizers so I can't say the same for THC vapes.

@htupper Can you cite an independent study that supports your point? Mayo Connect relies on science-based data n and what I still see today says no to vape, especially for someone with already damaged lungs.

@sueinmn I don’t get why anyone with COPD would want to vape, our lungs are bad enough and to add vape is crazy, why think oh it’s not that bad and take a chance, not me I want to live as long as I can, if you need something that bad then get the edibles out there. We gotta protect our lungs as much as we can

@htupper
The answer is Don’t Smoke!’

@sueinmn it's not letting me put in the links to the evidence but I'll tell you one thing there's tons of it in the form of case studies.

And also a year after switching from smoking to vaping my oxygen capacity went from 91% from when I was smoking to fluctuating between 96% and 99% 1 year after I switched to vaping.

@htupper, I noticed that you wished to post links to articles with your post. You will be able to add URLs to your posts in a few days. There is a brief period where new members can't post links. We do this to deter spammers and keep the community safe.

Allow me to post them for you:
- Does vaping cause popcorn lung? https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/causes-of-cancer/does-vaping-cause-popcorn-lung
- Vaping Nicotine Is Far Less Harmful Than Smoking Tobacco (2020) https://journal.chestnet.org/article/S0012-3692(20)30754-6/fulltext

I'll note that research continually evolves. This is what Mayo Clinic would like people to know about vaping vs smoking.

"First publicized as a safer alternative to smoking tobacco, vaping caught on because it didn't contain the carcinogens or tars found in most smoking tobacco products. Also, vaping was supposed to eliminate the dangers of secondhand smoke to those nearby.

It all sounded pretty harmless in theory. However, those theories were wrong."

Read more here:
- A doctor's warning about the dangers of vaping https://www.mayoclinichealthsystem.org/hometown-health/speaking-of-health/a-doctors-warning-about-the-dangers-of-vaping

In this video, Mayo Clinic Health System pulmonologist Adel Zurob, M.D., discuss the risks of smoking, vaping, and chewing tobacco and how these activities can harm your health. Dr. Zurob explains the dangers of tobacco use, including the increased risk of lung cancer, heart disease, stroke and respiratory problems. He also addresses the common question of whether the lungs can heal previous damage if someone stops smoking.