According to Doctor Lester Grinspoon, who is an emeritus professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and the author of "Marijuana, the Forbidden Medicine" (Yale University Press, 1997), "..there is very little evidence that smoking marijuana as a means of 'taking it' represents a significant health risk. Although cannabis has been smoked widely in Western countries for more than four decades, there have been no reported cases of lung cancer or emphysema attributed to marijuana. I suspect that a day's breathing in any city with poor air quality poses more of a threat than inhaling a day's dose -- which for many ailments is just a portion of a joint -- of marijuana."

Dr Grinspoon expands on the matter by saying, "Further, those who are concerned about the toxic effects of smoking can now use a vaporizer, which frees the cannabinoid molecules from the plant material without burning it and producing smoke."

Dr. Mitch Earleywine concurred by saying: "The argument that the medical use of cannabis is inappropriate because of its potential to create (lung) problems is now clearly invalid. Regular users of joints, blunts, pipes, and water pipes might decrease respiratory symptoms by switching to a vaporizer."

Earleywine, of the State University of New York, and colleagues, note that marijuana smoking can lead to respiratory trouble. However, vaporizers heat cannabis to release the psychoactive ingredients, but remain cool enough to avoid the smoke and toxins associated with combustion.

To investigate what impact this might have, the researchers examined Internet survey responses from people who had used marijuana in the previous month.

6,882
Respondents who had cystic fibrosis or asthma or reported oral ingestion as their primary means of cannabis use were excluded, as were those who had inhaled other drugs.

Of the 6,882 cannabis users included in the study, only 152 (2.2 percent) reported vaporizing as their primary method of cannabis use. However, 100 of these users -- nearly 66 percent -- reported no respiratory problems compared to 56 percent of those who did not use vaporizers.

"These data, in conjunction with previous work," Earleywine said, "reveal that people can use cannabis without fear of respiratory problems."

Its clearly a subject which is growing in popularity as the benefits and harm reduction capabilities of the vaporiser become common knowledge.

Volcano Vaporiser
Donald Abrams of the University of California, San Francisco, and his team decided to investigate the benefits of the 'Volcano'. The device heats marijuana buds & leaves to a temperature between 180 and 200 °C so that THC is released from oils on the surface of the leaf but no actual combustion takes place.

Previous studies have shown that harmful toxins released through smoking cannabis mixed with tobacco, such as carbon monoxide, benzene and a host of compounds known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (many of which are known carcinogens) are not produced by such devices, negating any risk of inhaling purported carcinogens once and for all.

Multiple Sclerosis Society UK
Laura Bell of the Multiple Sclerosis Society in the UK says that her society supports cannabinoid research for people with multiple sclerosis. "Smoking cannabis results in exposure to many toxic chemicals," she says. "We welcome research into better and safer delivery methods."

So clearly the benefits of the cannabis plant, which have been used and enjoyed for over 12,000 years, are now available with almost 0% risk of exposure to any toxic elements.

Which is good news, if harm reduction is the common aim.

If you haven't yet done so, please take the time to sign this cannabis petition on the Home Office website .