Vape Pens 101
UPDATE: While all the below information is still relevant, please note that there has since been a vape pen ‘scandal’ that initially sparked widespread fear of cannabis vape pens. Since then, the C.D.C. has found that Vitamin E Acetate is the culprit. Always ask for testing results on your batch of pens and buy from dispensaries and licensed providers whenever possible! For another wonderful guide on Vape Pens, look to Nice Paper!
Guys!
Welcome back to Cyntivee for the first of the CBD 101 series. Today we’re going to cover vape pens, how they work and how to get started!
Vaporizers
Vaporizers are devices that heat oils or herbs to their vaporization point. While vaporizers come in many shapes and sizes, you’ve most likely seen this technology in e-cigarettes like juul, or within the personal devices known as “vape pens” (see pic above). Vaporizers are used to consume CBD, Cannabis, and other essential oils and herbs but since this is the "CBD 101" series, we’ll focus on CBD vape pens for the majority of this post.
The key point when thinking about vaporizers is that these devices heat the oils or herbs inside, and bypass many of the negative effects of combustion (i.e.burning).
Since you’re heating these substances, and not burning them, you're avoiding the smell, toxins and carcinogens associated with traditional smoking. For that reason, vaporizing is a cleaner and safer way of consuming cannabis products.
CBD Vape Pens
While there are numerous types of vaporizers, I am a big proponent of the personal devices known as “vape pens.”
The heating element within these pens heats the CBD oil until it turns into a vapor that, once inhaled, is absorbed directly into the lungs and bloodstream. Because of this, vaping CBD is efficient for beginners since you can take very small doses, or “microdoses”, and feel the effects relatively quickly. From there, you can gauge whether you need to go up or down!
In addition to the control that you have over your consumption, these vape pens are discreet, convenient and don’t smell like burning cannabis. In FACT, some of these pens are infused with essential oils that range from lavender to peppermint and help create very soothing scents and a relaxing ambience. It’s like a mini-spa moment!
Types of Vape Pens
Personally, I stick to pre-dosed disposable pens or pre-filled cartridges to use with a vape pen battery. There are other types of pens that include buying your own CBD oil or flower and filling cartridges yourself, but I’m not a fan of the extra work so I’ll share what I know!
*Disposable Vape Pen by Wildflower
Dosing
In terms of dosing, if you go with disposable pens, the hits are pre-dosed and each puff is typically between 2-5 mgs (a microdose). There are about 150 hits in each pen. When starting, you should take one hit, wait 10 minutes for any effects to kick-in, and then dose up from there.
If you purchase a CBD cartridge to use with a vape pen battery, you’ll start the same way, but since the draws/hits are not pre-dosed, you’ll have do your own calculation to figure out the potency of each hit.* Even without knowing the exact dosage, the “puff and wait 10 minutes” approach is still the right one with these vape pens.
Because CBD works to treat ailments from mild anxiety to severe chronic pain, the right dosage for you will depend on what you’re hoping to achieve! Starter doses range from 5-25 mgs per day, but every human body is different so don’t be afraid to increase the dosage. Some ailments require upward of hundreds of milligrams a day! You cannot overdose on CBD and your body will excrete any excess, so start slow, stay calm and vape on.
*First, ensure that you take even hits throughout the lifespan of your cartridge and keep note of how many hits you’ve taken. Once you finish the cartridge, divide the total mgs in the cartridge by the number of hits/draws taken and calculate an individual dosage.
Final Words
There you have it! Vape pens are a clean, quick and discreet way to ingest CBD or any other type of Cannabis oil. If you don’t suffer from a lung issue and avoid filling your own cartridges, I’d say that its most significant downside is the visual of vaping which, of course, kind of looks like smoking. But again, it’s not.
As always, be sure to do your research before making a purchase as this is a burgeoning industry with many new entrants. It's important to understand the ingredients in your products as well as the background of your manufacturers so be sure to do the research you'd do for any other purchase and read product reviews and customer testimonials.
If you have any questions, please reach out and I’d love to help! In addition to vape pens, there are numerous ways to consume CBD so check out my video Getting Started with CBD to learn about these methods and what you can expect to “feel”.
If interested, check out my partner discounts page to get a coupon code towards the purchase of a vape pen and a variety of other products and tools!
As always, stay tuned for upcoming tutorials right here on Cyntivee!
HUGS!
-Cyntivee
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