Do You Prefer Vaping Cannabis Oil or Smoking Cannabis Flower?

Do You Prefer Vaping Cannabis Oil or Smoking Cannabis Flower?

vaping or smoking weed

Both vaping and smoking have their pros and cons, but is one better than the other?

Aaaah, the age-old question within the cannabis community of is vaping cannabis oil as effective and enjoyable as smoking cannabis flower. This is not a new debate but a recent post on The Green Rush brought to light some great comments and ideas for those arguing over which is better, vaping cannabis or smoking cannabis.

Generally speaking, if you are of a certain age, say over 50, which means you smoked weed in the 70s and 80s, you have fond memories of toking on a joint at a Crosby, Stills, and Nash show or maybe rocking a bowl in the parking lot before a Def Leopard show. The cannabis elders prefer to smoke the flower, it has more aroma, a greater effect, and brings back memories of the true age of cannabis prohibition.

If you are millennial, you grew up on cannabis oil, vape pens, vape cartridges that clogged up, and crappy vaporizers that broke after a few charges. You think smoking flower, while nice on an occasion like camping or hiking, is messy, smelly, not practical, and not easy to hide from prying eyes and noses.

Let’s go over some of the general pros and cons of vaping cannabis verse smoking cannabis, as each one offers some good things and some “not convenient” things, as I won’t say either is “bad”.

Smoking Cannabis

PROS – 1. Full body effect of the flower 2. Enjoy the smell of sticky icky cannabis buds 3. Some argue that the high or experience is better when flower is smoked as opposed to vaped 4. Generally, very easy to find if you know who to ask, readily available as it is the plant in its simplest form.

CONS – 1. Smoking anything is the least healthy way to get cannabis into your body 2. Smoking flower is smelly and creates strong odor as well as smoke, not great when you are trying to be clandestine or sitting around smoke detectors. 3. Required additional equipment like a bowl, bong, rolling papers, lighter, etc.

Vaping Cannabis

PROS – 1. Cannabis oil is a concentrate, so a few puffs are powerful 2. Very discreet and much less odor and fumes 3. Super portable without any extra equipment (assuming your pen is charged) 4. Most vape pens use what is called a 510 threaded cartridge, so if you want to switch strains or oils, just screw one off and put the other one on, a little messy to do with flower during a joint or bowl smoking

CONS – 1. Some argue they can’t get high off a vape pen 2. Depending on how the oil was manufactured you may not be getting all the organic cannabinoids and terpenes that the raw flower has when smoked. 3. Vape pens can break easily at the lower end of the price market 4. Cartridges can tend to clog up once they are started and then left for awhile or put in the lying down position too long. 5 Vaping is healthier than smoking, carcinogens created by combusting something are not present in vaporing something as opposed to lighting something on fire and breathing it in.

Now, let’s look at the FB thread at some of the pro and con comments to vaping verse smoking cannabis.

Comments in Favor of Smoking the Flower

Flower is best! At least you know what your getting! With all the vape stuff going on no thank you!!!

There is a lot more going on in flower than just THC.

I prefer the smell of the flower, the feel of the bud, and the knowledge of it coming from the earth...not from someone's man made money grubbing hands.

Comments in Favor of Vaping the Flower

I'll take vape over flower any day

Gotta get them from a reputable source/dispensary. I haven't bought nugs in ages!

Are you insane... good quality vape oil is around 94% THC, one hit and it can seriously f*#@ you up...

I'm old school, but I recently tried the vape and I must say,,, holy s#it 😂 I had to avoid the public high.

How about both?

I could vape all day and still want flower to smoke and when I get to the flower my mind and body is like "oh there it is, that's what we were looking for." There are only two forms of true full spectrum material IMHO. Flower and hash, and I don't mean concentrates.

I prefer my flower over anything but I do have a vape for when I'm in public and don't wanna smell. Edibles are good too if I'm not able to smoke. I know Vapes are suppose to be stronger but they give me bad headaches and won't ever replaced the taste and feel of flower

People's bodies are different. Carts give me a little, edibles give me nothing, vaped flower is good but combustion still gives me the best effects.

One general theme that does emerge is to avoid fake vape pen cartridges. Those are deadly and dangerous and people in non-legal states seem to be getting the brunt of them. Granted, you can't bring a fake cartridges argument into a fight over which is better, oil or flower, because the fake one isn’t cannabis oil. There have been over 7 people sent to the hospital recently by vaping fake cannabis oil cartridges, so be careful out there and only get your cannabis oil from a vetted source or dispensary.

What do you think? Which one do you prefer, leave a comment below.