Re: MAPS: THC and copper

["Bob Greer" <greers_maps@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

I didn't find a definition of "particulate matter" on the page you
referenced, Rick.

This is important: some particles are bits of charcoal etc. that cannot
dissolve later in the lungs.  A water-wash _will_ remove most of this; the
ration of these bits to the THC will be much less after smoking with a water
pipe than otherwise.

Other particles are bits of resin that agglomerate as the smoke cools.  This
is the source of the "harsh" smoke that has been sitting on top of water in
a water pipe.  Continued contact with the water surface speeds this clumping
of small, easily absorbed resin drops into larger ones that won't absorb
well when inhaled.  This cooling also allows the resins to remain floating
in the water or sticking to the sides of the pipe; this is how the resins
are lost during smoking with a water pipe (since they are entirely
water-insoluble).

The cytotoxic principles in the smoke are removed by aging (although water
speeds their decomposition).  So the use of a "bong" type of pipe works well
_if_ the mouth-pipe is long: an entire lung-full of smoke can be stored for
several second (while the smoke exhales) and this allows the cytotoxins to
decompose.  The narrow width of the tube (and it's length) minimizes the
contact between the water and the (already washed) smoke, so clumping and
loss in the water and on the walls is also minimized.

Plainly the proportions of bong are important; the really tall sort (that
requires the smoker to stand up) seems best in this regard.

Leaving a layer of ashes in the pipe bowl (instead of using a suck-through
pipe bowl or a simple screen) will minimize the amount of one particulate
(charcoal) that is drawn into the water or the lungs.

Many people have bad luck with vaporizers, despite "official" reports that
they work well.  The problem is that THC vaporizes (when pure) at about 300
degrees Centigrade; and this temperature will start a burning process in
plant fibers in a pipe.  So "vaporizing" isn't happening when marijuana is
smoked with a vaporizer.

The manufacturers of vaporizing cigarettes and pipes (as a review of the
patents for these
devices will show) affirm that _oils_ rather than plant fibers must be used
for this process.  Unfortunately, marijuana oils are usually "black" (very
dark green) with chlorophylls etc. and these are inhaled with the THC.
Since the THC vaporizes at 300 degrees C., the bulk of the oil is apparently
heated to this temperature (or higher) and the result is a severely "baked"
feeling in the lungs after repeated use of this method.  Human lungs can't
absorb vapors at 300 degrees C. without tissue damage!

The right way, really, to "smoke" marijuana is as a highly refined oil that
is dissolved in an innocuous solvent and inhaled at room temperature.  This
is the method used in the "inhalers" for other medications sold in drug
stores; and it entails a minimal amount of harm.  The greenish, crude
marijuana oils are not appropriate for this method; they are too bulky and
contain too many different substances for a stable, long-shelf-life inhaler.

In the meantime, anyone who has used a water pipe can testify to the
foulness of the water after several bowls of marijuana are smoked through
it.  The fact that water removes these toxins, and that two "water washes"
remove much more of it, proves that a well designed water pipe is a "must"
for "safer smoking."   This materials removed in this step include lye-like
substances that make the water - or your lungs - very alkaline.

It's important to remember, too, that the THC-bearing resins are not lost in
the water.  The float on it and, eventually, stick to the walls of the pipe.
Most of the THC lost during the washing process can be recovered later, in
the form of a high-grade hash oil (suitable for vaporizing) by washing the
pipe interior later with a dry alcohol or acetone.  (Chosing the solvent to
suit the material of the pipe is important of course: some plastics craze or
even dissolve in acetone; and methanol will clean a pipe at room temperature
but ethanol or isopropanol should be heated for this use.)


The _ratio_ of particulates to THC in smoke is less relevent than the total
_amounts_ of charcoals and cytotoxins absorbed by smoking the marijuana
(including the resins derived from the first pass).  In any case, pot is
cheaper than new lungs; and lung lavages are rarely performed on request for
smokers.

As for metals in screens or home-made aluminum-foil pipes: if the screen
must be replaced occasionally then some metal is being passed into the
smoker's lungs.  Since screen holes are macroscopic and vapors are
microscopic, it is plain that a lot of charcoal is passing through any pipe
screen.  The process of combustion creates a turbulance that pushes the
charcoal through the screen; but a firm, thick layer of ash between the
screen and the burning fibers will greatly reduce this effect.  The "safer
smoker" will leave a layer of fine ash in his or her pipe bowl after
smoking; if the marijuana is of a sort that creates an unsuitable ash then
ash from another source (such as a cigarette ashtray) can be used instead.

An odd aspect of marijuana smoking that may not have been studied,
incidentally, is the effect of pre-washing the marijuana with scalding
water.  (Heating water to the boiling point and then pouring it over the
marijuana leaf in a bowl, and then letting the mix steep, covered and with
occasional stirring, until the water is room temperature will remove a lot
of the water soluble materials from the leaf surfaces.)  What is odd: this
may greatly improve the non-toxicity of the leaf (as a smoking material) yet
it also (by report) sometimes makes for a very harsh-tasting smoke.  Is the
removal of these unneeded, low-melting temp. waxes etc. really beneficial?
Does this benefit justify the trouble spent washing and drying the marijuana
before use?  How much of the THC (which is chemically locked to the plant,
by its hydroxyl-group) is washed away anyway with this method?

Inquiring minds want know!


- Bob Greer

-----Original Message-----
From: RickMAPS@xxxxxxx <RickMAPS@xxxxxxx>
To: greers_maps@xxxxxxxxxxx <greers_maps@xxxxxxxxxxx>; maps-forum@xxxxxxxx
<maps-forum@xxxxxxxx>
Date: Sunday, March 07, 1999 6:12 AM
Subject: Re: MAPS: THC and copper


>For more information about the effects of water pipes and vaporizers on
>marijuana smoke, please check the article about a study funded by MAPS and
>CANorml into this topic:
>
>http://www.maps.org/news-letters/v06n3/06359mj1.html
>
>and the companion article and marijuana and harm reduction
>http://www.maps.org/news-letters/v06n3/06364mj2.html
>
>In this study, water pipes did not help filter particulate matter.  More
>accurately, the water did filter particulate matter but it also filtered
just
>as much or more of the cannabinoids, so the ratio of cannabinoids to
>particulate matter  was not improved by the water pipes.  However, this
study
>did not test for combustion gases, which are likely to be filtered out by
the
>water in water pipes.
>
>Vaporizers were shown to be helpful.
>
>Rick Doblin
>



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