Vaping has exploded in popularity over the past few years. It’s more and more common to see people walking around parks and malls surrounding by the telltale white cloud, accompanied by the scent of cotton candy or watermelon. 

But vape rigs aren’t limited to just nice smelling oils – they can also be used for vaporizing weed, which has more than a few unexpected benefits to it than you’d think. Let’s take a look at four surprising facts about vaping marijuana.

1. Vaping is safer than regular smoking

We’ve all seen the scary TV commercials that warn us about the dangers of nicotine in cigarettes, but what you rarely hear about is the physical danger of smoking in general. 

When you light up something, the process of combustion releases a bunch of different chemicals (like carbon monoxide, tar, and other carcinogens) into our lungs from the substance that’s being smoked. But vaping doesn’t involve combustion; instead, it releases the good parts (namely, the cannabinoids) of marijuana at a lower temperature than smoking, so you don’t have to inhale all the bad byproducts that result from combustion. This is especially good news for people with health problems and who are interested in regularly using weed for medical purposes but can’t handle the harshness of a joint.

Vaping has its risks, of course, and a lot of research still needs to be done to determine exactly what those are. But one thing is clear, though, and that’s that vaping outpaces traditional smoking by a mile.

 

2. Vaping tastes and smells better than you think

It’s not just those fruity oils that smell good – so many people have turned to vapes to tone down the flavor and scent (but not the effect) of their toke. 

In particular, vape pens are famous for having almost no smell. The pens themselves are small and can be purchased either in either disposable or refillable versions. They’re perfect for people who don’t want to bother others with the smell of marijuana or otherwise don’t like the scent or taste themselves. Many also report that vaping makes it easier to taste all the subtle flavors of different cannabis strains, which is good for all you bud connoisseurs out there.

But don’t think a less noticeable smell means none at all. It’s still not advisable to take your toking into a public place unless you live in a state or country where it’s legal to do so. 

3. You can get more out of a smaller amount of weed

There’s a reason some feel they get a better high through vaping instead of smoking. Cannabis oil is the concentrated, liquid form of marijuana that’s been mechanically compressed. There are different concentrations of oil available depending on the brand, but in general, there’s more THC in vape oil than a comparable amount of bud.

Usually, producers take leftover bud and squeeze it through specialized extraction equipment. After all the juice has been extracted, it’s then purified and packed into a cartridge. The heating coil of your rig then heats the cartridge to the ideal temperature: a toasty 338 degrees. It’s a pretty efficient process and because the oil is so condensed, you only need a little to feel the effects.

(By the way, this also means that vaping is cheaper than smoking in the long run since you need less to achieve the same effect!)

4. Vaping doesn’t make it easier to pass a drug test

Even though oil for vape pens can often contain a higher concentration of THC, we don’t quite know if it builds up in your system any more or less than traditional smoking. But as far as we can tell, it’s just as difficult to pass a drug test after vaping marijuana as it is smoking or eating it. This is especially true for hair drug tests, which are one of the most difficult tests to pass. 

A hair test can detect THC in your system up to 90 days of being ingested, so going cold turkey isn’t always the easiest option. If you’re concerned about how to pass an impending hair screening, check out this article about hair follicle tests and how to pass them.