Vaporizing Marijuana is a More Potent way to Absorb the THC than Smoking

There are many different ways that medical marijuana can be injested - the most popular are smoking, eating, tincturing, and vaporizing. Out of all the methods, vaporization is the best way to unlock the potent, medicinal properties of cannabis.

The fact that marijuana is smoked has been an obstacle to its being approved as a medicine. Cannabis vaporization elimates the lung problems associated with smoking. The process involves heating the cured plant to a temperature where vapors are produced but combustion does not occur.

Vaporization results in a more effective delivery and potent intake of cannabanoids. A 2004 study comparing vaprization with smoking found that the combustion of cannabis resulted in the production of a hundred different chemicals that were not present when vaporizing. (Dale Gieringer, Efficient Delivery of THC with Effective Suppression of Pyrolytic Compounds, Journal of Cannabis Therapeudics, Vol.4(1) 2004.)


Many different types of vaporizers are currently popular. The best known and possibly most expensive is the $539 Volcano Vaporizer made by Storz & Bickel, a company based in Germany. The Volcano is powered by a ceramic heating unit and heat vent. Hot air blown through the vent heats cannabis which has been inserted into a chamber. The Volcano can recover about 50-80% of the THC present in a sample of marijuana.


For more information about vaporizer studies: http://www.maps.org/mmj/vaporizer.html

Lee Brand Attacks Fresno Medical Marijuana Patients

In December 2008, a medical marijuana facility in the Tower District was closed by city officials after just 2 days in operation. When the owner, a disabled former paralegal, asked the Fresno City Council to allow the dispensary, one of the council members became abusive. Lee Brand, new to the council this year, was quoted by the Fresno Bee as saying, "If it's that important, maybe they should move to San Francisco?" 

Brand suggests we tell 80 year-old Grandmother to treat her painful cancer by making a 6 hour drive to San Francisco. Maybe not the best alternative to someone with a painful disease? Interestingly Brand is a certified property manager and realtor who has a direct financial interest in the stability of Fresno real estate and the Tower District.

"We have so many problems in the city," Brand said. "I'd put medical marijuana at the bottom of the list. There are clearly more pressing matters."

Are there more urgent issues? The most asked question to Obama at the town hall meeting was whether marijuana would be legalized.

In this blog, I will be following the Fresno City Council's efforts to unjustly trample the rights of disabled Fresnans who have been prescribed medical marijuana.

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