Do Vaporizers Really Work?

Purpose

• The purpose of a vaporizer is to release an herb's beneficial active properties within its essential oils. Vaporizers were created not only to be a healthier alternative to smoking, but also as a means of utilizing the herb more efficiently. Much of the herb's essential oils are destroyed by combustion when smoked. However, vaporizers avoid combustion by heating the herb below its combustion point and turning the essential oils into a vapor.

Method

• Vaporizers work to heat the herb's essential oils to a temperature that is below its combustion point so that only vapor is created instead of smoke. This is done using one of two methods: conduction or convection. Conduction vaporizers place the herb inside of a bowl similar to a pipe. An instrument made of usually either glass or brass is heated and placed on top of herb's surface to heat the essential oils. Convection vaporizers use a technology that allows the user to set a specific temperature and then sends air through a heating element, which is sent to the herb and vaporizes the essential oils.

Efficacy

• The efficacy of the herbal vaporizer depends on the type of vaporizer used. Conduction vaporizers are not as efficient because of the lack of temperature control and they don't heat the herb's surface evenly. However convection vaporizers offer superior temperature control and send warm air through the herb to heat it evenly. The herb is also used more efficiently when vaporized because it doesn't endure the extreme heat that destroys many of the herb's active compounds before having a chance to utilize them like smoking does. A few factors also affect the productivity of vaporization like vaporizing at the herb's proper temperature, grinding the herb into small bits (not powder) before vaporizing, breathing and inhalation technique, and storage time of the vapor before it is inhaled. The longer the vapor sits inside the chamber, the more the active ingredients condense along the surface of the chamber, weakening the vapor.

Health Safety

• Vaporizing herbs is a safer alternative to smoking them because it allows users to avoid respiratory irritation and harmful toxins contained in smoke, particularly carcinogenic polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons, which are byproducts of combustion and a major cause of smoking-related cancers.