Cannabis-only smokers who switched to vaping?

There are a lot of people out there who believe that smoking herb is virtually (if not completely) harmless, and that it is only when tobacco is smoked too that it becomes dangerous. So I'm wondering about the experiences of those of us who've switched from cannabis-only smoking to cannabis-only vaping, and how it has affected your health.

PS If you still smoke cannabis to some degree but just cut down, I'm still interested, as long as tobacco (or nicotine in any form) hasn't been involved.

Qbit I think that smoking herb is almost harmless. Causing yourself to cough is not harmless.

There are so many variables in everyone's life to compare. It has a lot more than do with than just nicotine.

Huh? You're suggesting that you can avoid any possible harms of smoking cannabis simply by not coughing?

it improved my health. i noticed a marked improvement of not being so wheezy after crazy physical exertion

I also never cough up black/grey gems in the morning like i ritually did when i smoked.

HATE TOBACCO AND NEVER SMOKED THAT. (I tried it a few times of course, but i don't like it!)

Didn't really understand the question. I would only smoke cigs on rare occasions and would hit hookahs every now and then. But now the e-cigs have arrived i'm off the shisha.

I don't smoke anything, any more, ever. So I get the usual percs. Better oxygen absorption helps me recover faster in athletics. Less coughing. No more bloody noses. Don't smell like shit.

I was asking cannabis-only users about their experiences, not people who also used tobacco/nicotine. So as a tobacco/nicotine user, you're not among the demographic in question here, but I'm glad you health has improved all the same.

Just to clear out, smoking cannabis with tobacco is not as bad as you might thing the weed actually balances all the bad chemicals found in tobacco...just in it kills cancer cells

Bahaha!

studies have shown smokers who smoke both (pot and cigs) have a greater chance of having lung cancer than cig smokers only

I was being sarcastic...

I'd like to see those studies, I thought it was the opposite...

I've never smoked any pure tobacco, but in joints before sadly yes. Only few times a hookah (once I puked after and have distaste for it from then). Here it is common to roll joints with tobacco - i don't like putting tobacco in joints, but everyone here insist on it... As pure mj isn't burning properly in joints. First puff on one crappy vape sold me. Never smoked after that. So also no tobacco after that. Only combustion exceptions are few vape accidents - rarely MFLB, once with EQ on 260. I call bullshit smoking mj is harmless. It's fucking combustion!

Thanks, but whats the difference between a non nicotine user. What if it was in a patch form, No lung absorption. Im sure you have in haled some car exahust, or some second hand smoke.
Are you a nicotine virgin?

I didn't notice much physical effects from the change, also didn't keep record of it. except that I liked the high a lot more. before vaping I only smoked 1-2 times a week. I sometimes combust, especially with friends(who all smoke mixed with tobacco), and I always feel it in my throat the next morning after a night smmoking with friends. vaping doesn't give me that

I don't smoke tobacco, tried 1 puff from a cig after my first joint, didn't like it. never liked nicotine, the effect sucks, taste sucks, hurts my throath.

If you've ever combusted (mj only) in a bong with an active carbon attachment and saw all the tar & crap it removed..... you'd be questioning the 'mj is safe' theory whole heartedly

Well it's just that I had someone on another forum trying to tell me that smoking weed alone was harmless. And I was looking for anecdotes here from non-tobacco/nicotine users.

I know this is FC, but you'd have a very hard time finding any actual scientific evidence that smoking marijuana specifically has any negative health consequences.

Quick search:

Source: http://thecannaculturist.blogspot.ca/2011/10/marijuana-or-tobacco-smoke-which-is.html

Snip: "Researchers at the Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, part of the UCLA School of Medicine, have pitted tobacco and cannabis against each other in how much they encourage cancerous growth through the activity of the enzyme CYP1A1 in the liver. Activity of this enzyme on *polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons* (PAHs) has been linked to the formation of carcinogens in the body, leading to cancer. What are PAHs, you ask? Stay with me here. When we cook a steak on the grill, PAHs are formed. When we burn a campfire, we have produced PAHs. PAHs are a by-product of combustion. Unfortunately, our bodies do not take too kindly to them. Our liver metabolizes them into nastier chemicals that cause genetic mutations, even to the point of altering or halting a cell's normal apoptosis.This would ultimately lead to the development of cancer. Anyway, the researchers discovered that cannabis does exhibit far greater tar build-up (meaning more PAHs) in the lungs (because it is generally packed looser than cigarettes when smoked, cannabis smoke is typically held in the lungs longer, AND cigarettes generally have filters). The crazy thing is that the researchers found that THC found in cannabis tar reduced the effects of the PAHs in tar by inhibiting the actions of CYP1A1 ."

Study Findings Source: http://ajrcmb.atsjournals.org/content/24/3/339.full

Snip: "In summary, we found that tar from marijuana cigarettes was more potent than tobacco tar at inducing expression of CYP1A1 in Hepa-1 cells. This enhanced effect was due to Δ9-THC, which, like conventional PAHs, acted through the aryl hydrocarbon receptor complex to increase CYP1A1 mRNA. The presence of CYP1A1 and the aryl hydrocarbon receptor complex, as well as the capacity of PAHs to induce CYP1A1, are well documented in lung epithelium and in lung cancer cells (11, 12, 35, 36). Our studies therefore raise important questions about the role of marijuana smoking as a lung cancer risk factor. Induction of CYP1A1 by Δ9-THC could result in greater activation of smoke-related procarcinogens and contribute to the high rate of DNA damage and mucosal abnormalities observed in marijuana smokers (2-5). However, the capacity of Δ9-THC to competitively inhibit the CYP1A1 enzyme could moderate these consequences, decreasing the production of carcinogens. The in vivo balance between enzyme induction and competitive antagonism likely depends on many factors that were not addressed in this study. In addition, results with Hepa-1 cells may not exactly predict the regulatory effects of Δ9-THC on lung tissue. Our results support a role for Δ9-THC in promoting carcinogenesis but suggest that further testing is required in order to determine its clinical impact on lung tissue in vivo."


*** This is way too in-depth for my brain injury to absorb, but it is apparent that a final 'conclusion' is not completed without further studies. Either way, all the above makes for an interesting read to draw your 'own' conclusions for the available data.

"The crazy thing is that the researchers found that THC found in cannabis tar reduced the effects of the PAHs in tar by inhibiting the actions of CYP1A1"

Basically what I was getting at.
AFAIK, the only studies of actual humans showed smoked cannabis to be chemoprotective.

Kind of playing the devils advocate here, but I frequently hear people say things like "obviously smoking anything is bad for your health", without any actual evidence to back it up...

Yeah that's all well and good, but cancer is only one concern with smoking. After all, there's a whole list of ailments that smoking cigarettes can cause or exacerbate.

The last time I smoked tobacco was before I even started smoking herb so that doesnt come in here. Anyway so i went from cannabis only smoking to cannabis only vaping, and I see much improvements. I dont get sick anymore with colds and respiratory ailments, I never have to cough or cough up any of the tar and combustion by products, I feel a much cleaner high, not smoking also helped my skin to clear up too. Plus, I dont get burnt out like I often did with smoke, also smoke doesnt have a gentle comedown like vapor does, it would make me crash but now i can avoid that altogether. theres a lot of things that changed, and I never ever smoke anymore and probably wont again

Same here

Thanks Diesel, that's the kind of anecdote I'm after. I don't know how much non-cancer illnesses have been studied in cannabis-only smokers, but people like you can testify that the difference is significant. But I guess any of us non-smokers can feel the difference when smoking a herb-only spliff.

How can you smoke without even a tiny bit of tobacco? I just never understood that - the taste alone in combustion is too hard alone IMO and it doesn't burn well.