It is often claimed that vaping is a healthier practice than smoking. Vapers hit the market in the early 2000s and have been expanding ever since. Many smokers have switched from traditional cigarettes to electronic cigarettes.
Today, vapers are no longer used just to inhale nicotine. The CBD oil craze is making its way into the world of vaping, and already some people prefer to vape their CBD oil instead of ingesting it sublingually. Inhalation allows for a very fast absorption of the substances, and for people who used to smoke or for social smokers vaping CBD oil can be a good way to take their daily dose of cannabidiol.
But is it really such a positive practice? The theory behind vapes and e-cigarettes says that the absence of combustion makes them healthier than traditional cigarettes. The combustion process releases hundreds of carcinogens and toxic chemicals, so since vaping allows you to inhale some substances without combustion, it’s arguably healthier than smoking, although that doesn’t mean it’s necessarily good for your health.
Vaping also carries some dangers. Is it possible to vape CBD oil? In this article we are going to answer this and other questions so you know what you are actually giving your body.
The health problems in obtaining CBD
In the U.S., in states where recreational hemp is legal, it is possible to vaporize dried weed from the plant itself. But on this side of the pond things are not so simple. Since hemp and THC are illegal in our country, one has to limit oneself to the consumption of CBD oils made from industrial hemp with a THC content of less than 0.02%. This is certainly a measure intended to ensure consumer safety, but the process of extracting CBD from hemp and converting it into a safe product for consumption may have some undesirable effects.
Previously, the main technique for extracting CBD from the hemp plant involved placing the plant matter in a sealed conduit and filling it with some solvent such as butane. Butane is used in lighter fluid and is not exactly good for your health. This solvent was able to extract the cannabinoids, resulting in a very intense and viscous CBD oil.
As the manufacturers know that butane is not suitable for consumption, they subjected the oil to a rigorous cleaning process, but it was still very difficult to remove all the butane. Sometimes the oils contained residues of the solvents that are very harmful to health. Fortunately, most companies now use the CO2 extraction method, which results in a much safer end product.
Nevertheless, there are still manufacturers who resort to solvent extraction in order to reduce costs. Make sure that the products you buy specify how the CBD has been obtained. It’s easy to find out if you know what to look for.
The health problems of vaping CBD
The hemp plant is covered with waxes and resins that protect the leaves. During the extraction process, both with solvents and CO2, it is possible for some particles of the plant’s cuticular wax to pass into the oil.
Since vapers use low temperatures to avoid combustion, these waxy particles are not burned but inhaled into the lungs. Some experts believe that this process can lead to a buildup of wax granules in the airways, and over time that can lead to health complications.
However, there is a way around this. After CO2 extraction, some companies choose to “winterize” their oils. This process involves soaking the plant in alcohol and freezing it so that the wax particles separate. Using this technique makes the product more expensive, and it is believed that it can also leach out some of the CBD and result in a less potent oil, which is why some companies choose to skip this step.
Not applying this technique may not be a problem for sublingual oils, but if you consume CBD with a vape, try to look for companies that have winterized their products to prevent wax particles from accumulating in the lungs.
On the other hand, the winterization process can result in a more viscous product, and that leads to another set of problems.
Check out Ecowatch best cbd oil to get more important information.