Nouvelles

Les nouveau vaporisateurs sont ajoutées au tableau de comparaison, ainsi que quelques autres nouveaux modèles.

La teneur en cannabinoïdes de Cannabis sativa vaporisé

Novembre 4, 2009 -Dans le numéro de Novembre de Inhalation Toxicology des résultats ont été publiés d'une nouvelle étude menée par l'Institut de biologie, de l'Université de Leiden en Hollande. Au cours de cette étude la vapeur du vaporisateur Volcano disponibles dans le commerce a été comparé à la fumée d'une cigarette de cannabis (un joint). La fumée de cannabis et de vapeur (obtenue à des températures différentes) ont été analysés quantitativement par chromatographie à haute performance de liquide (CLHP). En outre, différentes quantités de matériels de cannabis ont également été testées avec le vaporisateur. Le ratio cannabinoïdes:sous-produits en fonction de la vapeur obtenue à 200 degrés Celsius et 230 degrés Celsius est significativement plus élevé que dans la fumée de cigarette. Le pire taux de cannabinoïdes:sous-produits a été obtenue de l'échantillon de cannabis vaporisé à 170 degrés Celsius.

Cannabis chemicals may help fight prostate cancer

August 20, 2009 - Chemicals in cannabis have been found to stop prostate cancer cells from growing in the laboratory, suggesting that cannabis-based medicines could one day help fight the disease, scientists said Wednesday.
After working initially with human cancer cell lines, Ines Diaz-Laviada and colleagues from the University of Alcala in Madrid also tested one compound on mice and discovered it produced a significant reduction in tumor growth.
Their research, published in the British Journal of Cancer, underlines the growing interest in the medical use of active chemicals called cannabinoids, which are found in marijuana.
Experts, however, stressed that the research was still exploratory and many more years of testing would be needed to work out how to apply the findings to the treatment of cancer in humans.
"This is interesting research which opens a new avenue to explore potential drug targets but it is at a very early stage," said Lesley Walker, director of cancer information at Cancer Research UK, which owns the journal.
"It absolutely isn't the case that men might be able to fight prostate cancer by smoking cannabis," she added.

Why not, you might ask? How about vaporizing?

The 'cannabinoids' used in the research are in fact CB2 agonists JWH-015 and methanandamide, substances that are not actually present in cannabis. What they fail to mention here is that cannabis can not only alleviate pain and nausea in cancer patients, it also elevates their mood and stimulates appetite.

Read more on the NORML website.

Medical Marijuana Therapy and Doctorous Ignoramous Profundus

July 25, 2009 - by Dr. Phil Leveque for Salem-News.com

I'm writing this in response to a recent article by a Professor of Psychiatry in a prominent East Coast medical school but my remarks are directed at about 75 percent of physicians in the U.S. The article had more incorrect information that I thought possible from a Professor of Psychiatry. The big problem seems to be the impact of "Reefer Madness" and obviously many physicians still believe it and attest to the validity of the U.S. gov't propaganda. I am going to go through the several inaccuracies of his article.

First of all he says "marijuana is not benign". Medically it is one of the most benign but effective medicine, ever found. Then he outlines potential risks. There are none, or very few.

He said Napoleon's troops brought it to Europe. Actually the Persians brought it to Scythia, part of European Russia maybe a thousand years before.

While THC is the main chemical possibly 95 percent, CBD and CBN seem to be the next most present. It appears few people know the activities of the rest because they are in such small amounts.

Marijuana doctor/specialists will disagree with this statement that 9 percent become addicted. Just because the reason why someone uses it constantly is because IT WORKS, not that they are addicted. Medical users who run out have minimal withdrawal symptoms. Marijuana doctors have seen little or no withdrawal syndromes! The U.S. Government says about 70 million people here have used it, and possibly 10 million use it daily. There has been no epidemic of harm. Many people, however, might confess they are "addicted" and seek abuse treatment to avoid jail or risk losing their job.

The article uses "intoxication" which means POISONING which it isn't. This "intoxication" doesn't even compare with alcohol or two espresso coffees. It is nothing like nicotine withdrawal, which is harder to beat than heroin. Beating the big "H" involves excruciating pain and sickness, but when its over, its over. Cigarette smokers that quit will tell you a year after the fact that they still have cravings.

He implies it causes cancer and damages the immune system. It does the opposite. He also implies it may lead to opiate addiction. Actually, marijuana/cannabis has been used to get addicts off alcohol, opiates and nicotine.

He says it triggers psychoses. Actually California doctors are using it to treat psychoses including PTSD, probably the most common one now.

Any medical/scientific articles more than 5 years old are sadly out of date. Marijuana is used successfully for maybe one hundred or more medical conditions and these conditions can be found easily by sitting at a computer for just a few minutes.

Dronabinol/Marinol is NO SUBSTITUTE for marijuana used with a vaporizer, not as a cigarette. For nausea and vomiting Marinol is useless. People throw it up. It takes too long to act, from one to two hours, and patients frequently get dreadful anxiety and panic attacks which are typical signs of overdose. If this doctor or any other doctor would see a few marijuana patients, most of whom had used for 10 to 50 years, he would see some very sick near medically destitute patients who are getting good relief from marijuana. Some California doctors say "all marijuana use is medical". It certainly seems very effective for coping and the euphoria from a medical dose is extremely beneficial for patients in extreme pain, or suffering from cancer or AIDS.

We marijuana doctors advise the use of vaporizers which decreases almost to zero any bronchial irritation common with burning/smoking. We welcome FDA testing and approval but remember they approved Thalidamide, Latrite, Vioxx and several more real nasty poisons. If marijuana is good for terminal cancer why shouldn't it be available for persons in severe chronic pain, spasms and nausea? Cannabis has been used for 5000 years without one death. I am embarrassed to be writing this about a fellow physician and medical professor. I hope he joins the club.

Read the original article here: Medical Marijuana Therapy and Doctorous Ignoramous Profundus

California health board declares cannabis smoke a carcinogen

June 29, 2009 - If you've visited California in the past twenty years or so, then you've probably seen your fair share of carcinogen warning signs. Under the statues of Proposition 65, state laws require businesses to report the usage of substances that have been known to cause cancer or reproductive toxicity. If any trace of said harmful chemicals exist in a building in California, you're bound to know about it. Warning signs must be placed in highly-visible areas near entrances and exits. The penalties for non-cooperation are severe. Each year, the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA), a subsidiary of the California Environmental Protection Agency, publishes a revised list of all the chemicals deemed to put the Californian public at potential risk.

Guess what substance made the list this year? That's right, good old medical marijuana. More specifically, marijuana smoke.

On June 19th, cannabis joined an illustrious collection of death-dealing chemicals, amongst them asbestos, carbon monoxide, isoprene, mustard gas, vaporized unleaded gasoline and tobacco smoke.

It's no secret that smoking marijuana could be a potential cause of cancer - but then again, it could be argued that smoking anything can give you cancer. So here's a solution, straight up: Don't smoke pot. These days, medical marijuana can consumed in a myriad of forms. Vaporizers, candies, canned drinks, even topical sprays are all very excellent ways to medicate - and all infinitely healthier than sparking up that big fatty.

The article continues at www.examiner.com.

A related article in the San Fransisco Weekly adds that "The largest study ever conducted on marijuana and lung cancer, overseen by Dr. Donald Tashkin at the University of California, Los Angeles, found no association at all between marijuana smoke and lung cancer -- and even a suggestion of some protective effect. The nicotine in tobacco inhibits the destruction of cancer-causing cells, according to the latest research, while the tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in marijuana has the opposite effect: It appears to kill aging or genetically damaged cells and keeps them from becoming cancerous."

It concludes with the remark: "Since the warning applies only to conventionally smoked marijuana, it appears likely that users who use vaporizers or edibles to consume the herb will be unaffected."

Top anti-cannabis researcher changes his mind

June 6, 2009 - For 30 years Donald Tashkin has studied the effects of cannabis on lung function. His work has been funded by the vehemently anti-cannabis National Institute on Drug Abuse, which has long sought to demonstrate that cannabis causes lung cancer. After 3 decades of anti-drug research, here's what Tashkin has to say about marijuana laws:

"Early on, when our research appeared as if there would be a negative impact on lung health, I was opposed to legalization because I thought it would lead to increased use and that would lead to increased health effects," Tashkin says. "But at this point, I'd be in favor of legalization. I wouldn't encourage anybody to smoke any substances. But I don't think it should be stigmatized as an illegal substance. Tobacco smoking causes far more harm. And in terms of an intoxicant, alcohol causes far more harm."

Tashkin's views are shaped not by ideology, but rather by the 30 years he spent studying the issue. He didn't expect the science to come out in favor of cannabis, but that's what happened and he's willing to admit it. Here's the study that really turned things around:

UCLA's Tashkin studied heavy marijuana smokers to determine whether the use led to increased risk of lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD. He hypothesized that there would be a definitive link between cancer and marijuana smoking, but the results proved otherwise. "What we found instead was no association and even a suggestion of some protective effect," says Tashkin, whose research was the largest case-control study ever conducted."

Article continued on www.stopthedrugwar.org

New vaporizer store in Amsterdam

April 22, 2009 - This Saturday (April 25) web shop Azarius will open its first 'offline' shop in the center of Amsterdam.

Azarius was created ten years ago and is still a leading figure in the European herbs and vaporizer market. Aside from numerous plant extracts, seeds, pipes, books and incense, they carry more than thirty high quality vaporizers, which will be displayed in their new store. If you don't feel like ordering a vaporizer online, you can now come to their shop to first see and try out the different models.

You can read more about their new store (directions, opening hours etc.) here:
The Azarius shop in Amsterdam

Use your vaporizer leftovers wisely

March 10, 2009 - "You can use your vaporizer leftovers to make some surprisingly potent butter for cooking brownies and all sorts of treats. The potency will vary depending on how thoroughly you vape your herb. Obviously much of the active ingredients have been vaped into your lungs while your were vaporizing - but there’s a lot left in there - awaiting extraction. It’s hard to make concentrated and potent butter since the leftovers will take up so much room. It’s all about the butter/herb ratio. So the solution is to use a butter/water mixture to extract the active ingredients from the vaporizer leftovers. Here’s my current recipe - subject to discussion and revision!"

Vaporizers to be banned in the UK?

January 27, 2009 - A British city council are putting feelers out with regard to banning equipment which it says, are used solely for the purpose of consuming illegal drugs such as cannabis.

Council officers from the Wirral on Merseyside (United Kingdom) have gained all-parties backing for the controversial move, which would see the sale of bongs, chilums and even vaporizers outlawed if the law comes to fruition.

The quest to 'ban the bong' has been tabled by Birkenhead and Tranmere councillor Brian Kenny, who commented recently "It may not be illegal to sell the equipment, but it is sold in retail outlets across the Wirral and Merseyside, with the knowledge that it is likely to be used for illicit drugs."

According to the cannabis lobby spokesman Bill Stone "This is nothing more than another knee-jerk reaction as the British government proves once again it has not only an irrational fear of cannabis, (even though it is legally available in 14 US states under a doctors medical cannabis card - thats fully 25% of the United States population of 306 million people who are now legally entitled to use cannabis with their doctors recommendation), the UK government clearly has absolutely no idea how to deal with the cannabis issue."

From: CannaZine

Dutch and US Marijuana Vaporizer Researchers Collaborate

January 9, 2009 - On January 5, 2009, MAPS President Rick Doblin and Dutch PhD student Justin Fischedick of Leiden University, met with Joseph St. Laurent and Scott Goodrich at Chemic Labs, outside of Boston. Justin and his associates have been conducting marijuana vaporizer research at Leiden University using the Volcano vaporizer. They have decided to share data and procedures with Joseph St. Laurent and Scott Goodrich, who have been trying without success for over 5 1/2 years to purchase 10 grams of marijuana from NIDA for MAPS and CaNORML-sponsored vaporizer research (see previous news items).

Justin and his associates have been looking mostly at what is in the marijuana vapors, such as cannabinoids and terpinoids. In order to determine whether vaporization is an effective harm reduction device, the Chemic researchers intend to mostly investigate what isn't likely to be in the marijuana vapors, but is in marijuana that is burned. This research will focus on various tars and products of combustion such as carbon monoxide.

From: MAPS News: Healing Hearts and Minds in 2009 - January

MAPS vaporizer study gets support from scientists

November 18, 2008 - For more than five years the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), which has developed a scientific protocol to test the effectiveness of the Volcano Vaporizer, has been trying to buy 10 grams of government-grown cannabis for their research, without success.

November 6 however Chemic Labs submitted a response to a June 16, 2008, critique of MAPS' vaporizer protocol (PDF) by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and the Public Health Service (PHS).

MAPS submitted the protocol to NIDA/PHS on January 16, 2008, along with three letters of support from peer reviewers.
Now that Chemic Labs' response has been submitted, MAPS is hopeful that NIDA will grant them permission to purchase government-grown cannabis for use in their vaporizer protocol. Unfortunately, they may need to wait another 6 months or so for NIDA/PHS to reply to MAPS' response to their critiques. There is no regulatory time limit governing the NIDA/PHS response. MAPS had already been waiting about three years for a NIDA/PHS response to MAPS' reply to the critique of an earlier protocol.

Read the original article here: www.maps.org

Practical experiment to show how clean and efficient a vaporizer really is

September 28, 2008 - In the following video the friendly vaporizer enthusiast Kads shows how effectively the Vapor Brothers Vaporizer eliminates harmful byproducts created by combustion, and how much more efficient vaporization really is. The experiment can be repeated by everyone, using any good quality vaporizer.

Vapor Brothers Vaporizer vs Smoking: A Healthy Alternative

Incense linked to airway cancers

August 26, 2008 - People who breathe burning incense over long periods have an increased risk of developing mouth, tongue, and certain lung cancers, even if they don't smoke cigarettes, a new study shows. The risk was seen in smokers and nonsmokers, suggesting that exposure to burning incense is an independent risk factor for certain cancers of the respiratory tract, says lead researcher Jeppe T. Friborg, MD, PhD, of Copenhagen's Statens Serum Institut.

"The findings from this study and the experimental research are sufficient to recommend that people avoid prolonged use of incense in areas where they spend a lot of time, like living rooms," Friborg says.

Used since biblical times, incense is still an integral part of daily life in large parts of Asia and India. And many people in the U.S. and other Western countries also burn incense on a daily basis. A wide variety of plants and oils are used to make incense. When burned, many of these mixtures have been shown to produce some of the same carcinogens that are found in cigarette smoke. Because of this, a number of studies have examined a possible link between incense inhaled into the lungs and lung cancer, but the findings have not been conclusive. The newly published study is the first to follow healthy people over time in an effort to understand the impact of long-term exposure to burning incense on cancer risk. More than 60,000 Chinese residents of Singapore who were participants in a larger health study were followed from enrollment (which occurred between 1993 and 1998) and 2005. None of the study participants had cancer at enrollment, and all were interviewed in detail about their dietary and lifestyle habits, including their exposure to incense. Roughly three-quarters of the men and women reported being current incense users.

Over the course of the study, 325 upper respiratory tract cancers and 821 lung cancers were reported. Long-term and frequent exposure to incense fumes was associated with a significant increase in the risk of squamous cell cancers of the upper respiratory tract.

Daily exposure to burning incense is common in Asia, but it is not limited to the East. To illustrate the point, Friborg and colleagues cite a 2004 study involving non-Asian minority women living in New York City. More than a quarter of the women (28%) reported burning incense during pregnancy, and incense exposure was identified as a significant source of exposure to a commonly inhaled carcinogen.
American Cancer Society Deputy Chief Medical Officer Len Lichtenfeld, MD, tells WebMD that the study should not alarm casual incense users who do not appear to be at significant risk. But he adds that people who breathe burning incense on a daily basis need to understand the risk. "Daily exposure is associated with an increase in upper airway cancer," he says. "This a real risk that should not be ignored."

Long-term exposure to incense fumes was associated with an increased risk for most upper respiratory cancers, as well as squamous cell lung cancer, the study shows. Squamous cell lung canceris most common type of lung cancer in smokers.

Source: WebMD

NIDA delays vaporizer research and averts MAPS lawsuit

July 17, 2008 - The MAPS Newsletter reports: On June 18th, after a five month review process, the National Institute of Drug Abuse - Public Health Service (NIDA-PHS) finally responded to our revised vaporizer research protocol, submitted for review January 16, 2008. The submission included three supportive letters from peer-reviewers, confirming the scientific merit of the study and urging NIDA-PHS to approve it. By responding, NIDA/PHS avoided MAPS filing another lawsuit for unreasonable delay, which we had intended to file in the middle of August.

MAPS has still been waiting two years and nine months for NIDA/PHS to respond to our September 2005 reply (PDF) to their rejection of our previous vaporizer protocol (PDF), which we initially submitted in June 2003, after which it took them more than two years to evaluate! We submitted the revised protocol in January 2008 to see if that might motivate NIDA to respond, which it has.

According to Rick, The review is filled with issues designed to delay and exhaust us, that have little importance to the safety or relevance of the intended research, but I don't think it will deter us for too long. We'll respond thoroughly and quickly before the end of July, and then wait yet again for a reply. Now that NIDA/PHS are familiar with the issues and have articulated their concerns, their response to our comments should be faster. We're already making progress in that the strategy of delay has been overcome and a review was issued.

If this situation werent so genuinely tragic for all the sick people who might benefit from this research, then it would simply appear ridiculous. All MAPS is requesting to do is purchase ten grams of marijuana--something virtually any high school student in the US could obtain--so that we can move forward with a study of a non-smoking delivery system for marijuana that might benefit people suffering from a wide range of debilitating, difficult-to-treat illnesses.

The FDA has thirty days to review complicated human protocols. With NIDA/PHSs dysfunctional review process, they have provided us with powerful evidence for why we need to break the NIDA monopoly on the supply of marijuana that can be used in research, said Doblin.

MAPS has been waiting since February 12, 2007 for the DEA to issue a final ruling in response to DEA Administrative Law Judge Bittners recommendation (PDF) that the NIDA monopoly on the production of marijuana legal for research be ended, and that Professor Lyle Craker be issued a DEA license for a MAPS-sponsored medical marijuana production facility.

Smoking ban encourages vaporizer use in Dutch coffeeshops

July 11, 2008 - As of July 1st, the Dutch have imposed a nationwide ban on smoking tobacco in cafes, bars, clubs and restaurants.

The coffeeshops, famous as comfortable places where marijuana and non-alcoholic drinks are sold, fought the ban but to no avail. Strictly speaking, marijuana is illegal too - but it is tolerated. This resulted in a paradoxical situation where coffeeshops are the only public places where smoking is allowed, as long as the joints do not contain tobacco.

For many users this seems to be a problem as they only smoke cannabis joints cut with tobacco, and they used to to this in places designed for it; coffeeshops. Musician Gani, for one, isn't happy about the changes. He says he can't smoke at home because his mother would hit him "over the head with a pan".

Vaporizers

Coffeeshops like Greenhouse present a variety of alternatives such as bongs (water pipes), tobacco-free smoking mixtures, and eye-catching medical vaporizers. This device heats the cannabis to 180 degrees Celsius, filling a plastic balloon vapor that contains pure THC, the active ingredient in cannabis. The vaporizer is claimed to be the mildest way to consume pure cannabis. Greenhouse owner and spokesman for the Dutch Cannabis Retailers Association, Arjan Roskam, is not worried about the impact of the new law. "It's much healthier to smoke cannabis than tobacco so actually it's a very normal law," he says. "Slowly, everyone's realizing that tobacco is not the way to go. Most people smoke pure cannabis. And cannabis of course has much less health risks than tobacco, as we all know."

Evert, inventor of the Verdamper (Vaporizer) is now doing a roaring trade, his device is considered the best smoking alternative among drug users. "The better coffeeshops already have one, many others have ordered, and you can even find one at the bar of some regular cafes."
Sources:
BBC
Bloomberg
Essensie

Vaporizer Info online

June 7, 2008 - Our website www.vaporizer-info.com has gone online! Our goal is to maintain a comprehensive non-commercial website with scientific but easy-to-read information about vaporizing.