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Is marijuana smoke as bad as tobacco?
My husband has been diagnosed with COPD caused by working at the Nuclear test site in Nevada. The only time he ever smoked tobacco was when he was giving up marijuana 30 years ago. he soon gave up tobacco, too. For the past 15 years he has been dealing with stenosis, disc degeneration and nerve pain. A year or two ago he started smoking pot again for the nerve pain and it does bring some relief. The pain pills he takes are not enough. He didn't tell his pulmonologist. I don't know why. I'm worried about it because he's vaping the flavored stuff. In the old days many people thought pot was not harmful to the lungs, but I have heard it is and wonder if anyone has thoughts on this.
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@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.
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2 ReactionsOf 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.
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2 Reactions@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.