Let’s take a look at the differences between dry leaf cannabis and cannabis e-liquid vaporizers today on Cannabasics #120.
Sponsored by Fez Vaporizers: www.fezvapor.com
Because of the presumed health benefits of vaping cannabis, over smoking it, many people are making the switch. But there are several ways to vaporize cannabis, so let’s compare two of the most common ways of vaping cannabis: dry leaf (or dry herb) vaporizers & e-liquid vaporizers.
Materials (What you’re vaping)
- Dry Leaf Vaporizer: Cannabis is grown, harvested, trimmed and cured. The resulting dried flowers, or nugs are ground evenly to be inserted into the heating chamber of the vaporizer.
- e-Liquid Vaporizer: Cannabis e-liquid solution is created by taking the dried cannabis flowers and extracting the thc oil using heat and pressure, solvents and sometimes more complicated scientific methods. The concentrated oil is then mixed with another chemical to thin and/or flavor the solution. These additives may be propylene glycol, vegetable glycerin and terpenes among other chemicals.
Function (How it heats)
- Dry Leaf Vaporizer: The ground dry leaf is heated inside a chamber (usually ceramic or stainless steel) causing it to emit a vapor. As the user draws air through the device it pulls it through the chamber releasing the vapor into the airflow and into the users lungs…
- e-Liquid Vaporizer: As air is pulled through an atomizer, the oil is heated and combined into the airflow to create an aerosolized vapor…
Vapor (Effects & Flavor)
- Dry Leaf Vaporizer and e-liquid Vaporizers: Vaping both dry leaf and liquid can help reduce carcinogens by up to 90% when compared to smoking cannabis. And because the high temperature combustion of smoking destroys and degrades much of the material, by vaping you can enjoy 60% of the CBD/THC from the plant versus only 30% THC/CBD from smoking. When considering the flavor it is important to remember that many cannabinoids and terpenes are delicate and are destroyed during combustion of smoking. So the purity of flavor is much more accurate when vaping. However some e-liquid solutions may be flavored artificially or with added natural terpenes.
Ergonomics (Ease of use & Discretion):
- Dry Leaf Vaporizer: Dry herb vaporizers require the cannabis to be ground evenly and each round of the device requires emptying and packing a new chamber. This can be more conspicuous than e-liquid vaporizers.
- e-Liquid Vaporizer: Most e-liquid vaporizers are very discreet and because the cartridges hold enough solutions for dozens of sessions they have an advantage when it comes to convenience and discretion.
Overview: For those cannabis users wishing to switch to vaporizing I hope this was useful to help you decide which might be better for you. Each has its benefits and drawbacks. For the purists, you can’t get a much cleaner flavor than from vaping great quality cannabis in a high-quality dry leaf vaporizer (Such as the FEZ). But for someone on the go with a need for discretion the e-liquid might be a better solution.