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Be Careful About the CBD Vape Products You Use

Be Careful About the CBD Vape Products You Use
Written by Dr. Leah Zachar

Vaping is the fastest way to get the CBD you need.  However, you need to be careful about the CBD vape products you use.

Cannabis, or hemp, the plant that produces CBD vape products has been around for thousands of years.  In 6,000 B.C., Pen Tsao Ching discovered the hemp plant and its many medicinal benefits – as per the world’s oldest pharmacopeia.  Between 1850 until 1937, cannabis was used as the number one medicine for more than 100 separate illnesses – as per the U.S. Pharmacopoeia.

World Health Organization: CBD is safe!

World Health Organization: CBD is safe!

Most recently, the World Health Organization in October 2017 stated that CBD, the non-psychoactive component of cannabis is safe, CBD is non-addictive, and does not result in physical dependence.

The only question left is the best delivery system for CBD and the best product to use.

Vaping is clearly the fastest and most effective means of getting the benefits of CBD.  However, not all vape products are safe.

When you vape, you electronically heat the CBD oil in a battery-powered vaporizer or atomizer. The temperature reached is approximately 400 degrees Fahrenheit or 205 degrees Celsius, which is lower than combustion.  This generates a water vapor, suitable for inhaling the CBD without the risk of exposing yourself to any of the toxins produced by combustion of the flower.

If the vape cartridge heats the CBD oil up too high, then the terpene concentrations decrease, the CBD essentially decomposes, and you may end up taking in a “dry puff”.

Vape pens, using lithium-ion batteries, if not properly made, present a hazard to consumers because if the vape pen is defective and overheats, the battery can explode due to its proximity to the combustible vape-juice.

The United States Navy, in May 2017 banned electronic vaping devices throughout the fleet due to concerns that the battery-powered gadgets can explode and injure sailors. Between October 2015 and August 2016, the Safety Center reported 31 incidents of sailors being injured by exploding batteries. Two of the explosions required the use of shipboard firefighting equipment to extinguish the fires. Two sailors were injured when their vaping devices blew up in their mouths, resulting in facial and dental injuries.

CBD oil, in its natural form is a thick oil, safe to ingest, or use as a cream, but it must be properly prepared, or “thinned” before it can be used to vape.  Propylene glycol and polyethylene glycol are used to prepare CBD so that it can be vaped.  If the vape pen is poorly made, then the CBD e-liquid might be overheated, and the propylene glycol and polyethylene glycol will be broken down into formaldehyde and acetaldehyde, both carcinogens.

CBD has been used for thousands of years, and officially endorsed by the World Health Organization.  It is now up to you, to find the best product around so that you can vape safely – and reap all the benefits of CBD.

References:

ATSDR . Toxicological profile for propylene glycol: US Department of Health and Human Services. Public Health Service. 1997.

Suber RL, Deskin R, Nikiforov I, Fouillet X, Coggins CR. Subchronic nose-only inhalation study of propylene glycol in Sprague–Dawley rats. Food Chem Toxicol: Intl J Pub Br Ind Bio Res Assoc. 1989;27(9):573–83. doi: 10.1016/0278-6915(89)90016-1

HCN. The Health Council of the Netherlands. Propylene glycol (1,2-Propanediol); Health-baded recommended occupational exposure limit. 2007. 

Varlet V, Concha-Lozano N, Berthet A, et al. Drug vaping applied to cannabis: is “Cannavaping” a therapeutic alternative to marijuana? Sci Rep. 2016;6:25599.

https://www.usfa.fema.gov/downloads/pdf/publications/electronic_cigarettes.pdf

https://www.navytimes.com/news/your-navy/2017/04/14/navy-bans-e-cigarettes-fleet-wide/

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About the author

Dr. Leah Zachar

Dr. Leah Zachar, M.D. is a physician who worked for nearly thirty years in Internal Medicine.
She currently is a scientific adviser to CBD Testers. Dr. Zachar believes that there is much that medical cannabis, and cannabidiol in particular can offer to traditional medicine.