On a visit to either our Salt Lake City or Brigham City pharmacy, you can purchase cannabis flower with a valid medical cannabis card. You can also buy vape cartridges. The point of bringing this up is to clarify some of the confusion surrounding vaping concentrated oil and vaporizing the unprocessed flower or bud.
From a purely technical standpoint, both are similar in that they both produce an inhalable vapor without relying on combustion. Whether you vape an oil or dry vaporize flower, you are not burning anything.
Why is only vaporizing rather than smoking allowed in Utah?
Currently in Utah cannabis law states smoking or using a “flame to flower” is not legal. There are two reasons for this restriction. The first reason is safety. Combustion of any plant material may lead to inhaling toxic byproducts that may damage lung function such as carbons, tar, and carcinogens. The second reason Utah requires vaporizing is the lower temperature allows more efficient and full spectrum access to all the cannabinoids and terpenes in the flower. Using a flame tends to destroy many of the fragile chemical compounds like terpenes and minor cannabinoids.
What are the differences between vaping oil and flower?
A dry herb vaporizer is a device similar to a small oven that will slowly heat your flower. As each medicinal compound reaches it’s vaporization or boiling point, a vapor is released and collects in a chamber. After the correct temperature is reached you will inhale that vapor and a fairly odorless vapor or mist will be visible when you exhale. Dry herb vaporizers are more smooth compared to smoking and vaping oil cartridges. Advantages of dry herb vaporization is you get the most full spectrum use of the plant. In comparrison, smoking which using high temperatures will only give you access to mostly THC. Using a dry herb vaporizer will also help keep your tolerance lower compared to smoking.
Vaporing concentrated oil in cartridges is more convientent compared to vaporizing flower. It also tends to be stronger and a little more harsh compared to vaporizing flower. One hit from a vape cartridge may provide the same amount of THC as a couple hits from a dry herb vaporizer. Vape cartridge oils are processed from the flower but they usually don’t always contain all the cannabinoids and terpenes and other medicainal compounds you might find in the unprocessed flower.
Using a combination of both dry herb vaporizing and vape cartridges is a popular option. Many of our patients in both Salt Lake City and Brigham City like to dry herb vaporize flower at home and use vape cartridges on the go for more convience.
