Smoking cigarettes is bad, we all know that. And vaping e-liquid, while still a better option, still comes with its own issues of unknown, sometimes dangerous, chemicals being added. So what about just vaping directly? We do it with weed after all, and for anyone who’s made the switch, you know it makes a difference, whether the government is encouraging you to do it or not. So why has this not become a thing with cigarettes? Dry tobacco vapes present the safest way to consume tobacco, without the detriments of smoking.
Dry tobacco vapes seem like the most obvious answer to the smoking problem, yet are only coming out now. What better way to minimize the detriments of smoking and issues of chemical additives to e-liquid vaping, than to bring the temperature down altogether? We cover everything in this category and work hard to get you the best news possible. Subscribe to THC Weekly Newsletter for more stories like this, and to get access to exclusive deals on flowers, vapes, edibles, and many more products! Plus, we have great offers on cannabinoids, like HHC-O, Delta 8, Delta 9 THC, Delta-10 THC, THCO, THCV, THCP & HHC, which will save you $$. Go to our “Best-of” lists to find them!
Vaping
It’s pretty passe to see a person with a vape pen these days, whether its for tobacco or weed. But this is a relatively new trend in the Western world, even though it technically goes back thousands of years. In fact, vaping can be traced back at least as far as Egypt in around 1,554 BC. Egyptians used to use hot bricks or stones to create vapors, with henbane specifically, and likely other oils or herbs.
Vaping in general means heating something to the point of vaporization – which is the same as the boiling point. But making sure not to heat it enough to make it combust. In this way, a user will never experience the negative aspects of lighting something on fire and breathing it in, but can obtain medical benefits.
Our more modern vaping history stated in 1930 when a guy named Joseph Robinson obtained the first patent for an electric cigarette. It is unclear if that first model was ever built, and it was several decades before the industry actually moved forward. Though patents were filed in the 1990’s by different companies, the first commercially successful vape was created by Chinese pharmaceutical owner Hon Lik in 2003.
Lik’s company Golden Dragon Holdings manufactured the product, changing its name to ‘Ruyan’. The market really took off in 2006, when electronic cigarettes debuted in Europe and the US. And then from there the market really exploded. How much? Here are some statistics to illustrate it better.
According to this Singlecare article, which speaks of different research including Gallup polls, 9% of adults used vapes regularly or occasionally by 2018, and about 27.5% of high school kids were already vaping. A survey from 2019 reported that over five million middle school and high school students had claimed to use e-cigarettes in the past 30 days. Between the years of 2011-2018, the number of consumers smoking e-cigarette skyrocketed from seven million to 41 million. And that’s already outdated by four years.
What about cannabis? A 2019 survey showed an increase of 3% in use of vaporizers among college students, which was already up 6% from the previous year. This survey accounted for students aged 19-22. What of their non-college attending compatriots? The percentage went up from 8% in 2018 to 17% the following year. And all this considering that in 2003, vaporizers didn’t even exist, with now close to 20%+ of young adults using them regularly.
Is tobacco super dangerous?
There are a couple things to understand about tobacco. First, it’s been used medicinally for thousands of years (you read that right), and second, the idea of burning it and inhaling it, is way different from consuming it in a way that does not involve burning it. I think this is a good time to remind (or inform for those who really don’t get it) that it was never about tobacco being the worst thing ever, it was about burning it and inhaling, because burning ANYTHING and inhaling is dangerous.
When there’s a house fire, and there are fears that a person breathed in too much smoke, is that about cigarettes? No! And when there are wildfires that produce a lot of smoke, and people are told to stay away to avoid breathing it, is that about cigarette smoke? No! Breathing in anything burning is bad. End of story. Doesn’t matter if its wood, plastic, cotton, or any other material. The term ‘smoke inhalation’ is not about cigarettes, its about simply breathing in too much smoke of any kind, and we already know that breathing in too much smoke is deadly. So, obviously it would be bad to have a habit where smoke inhalation is a key part to it. But realistically, with few exceptions, what is being burned and inhaled, is less important than the fact that something is being burned and inhaled.
In terms of tobacco, the plant is theorized to have been used for around 8,000 years, with cultivation likely beginning about 5,000 years ago in Central Mexico. Remains of both wild and cultivated tobacco were found in New Mexico in the High Rolls Cave, with radiocarbon technology dating it to between 1,400-1,000 BC. Natives to these areas used tobacco for ceremonial and medical purposes, with the plant earning the title of a cure-all.
Tobacco has been used medically for things such as wound dressing, for skin infections, sores, bruises, and sprains. It was used to fight intestinal worms, to induce vomiting, as a laxative, expectorant, and for fainting and dizziness. It was used for pain like headaches and toothaches, as an antiseptic, and to stop bleeding by constricting blood vessels.
When Christopher Columbus brought it back to Europe, it was believed the plant had magical powers. In fact, it was this belief that helped the trend of smoking tobacco when the method came out, as the idea was that smoking helped get a good daily dose of tobacco and nicotine. Maybe it’s not technically bad to get a daily dose, but certainly not from lighting it on fire and inhaling.
Dry tobacco vapes present new way to consume tobacco
So, if tobacco isn’t the culprit, but smoking it is, then simply changing the way its ingested is the biggest issue, not stopping its use. Since we have the technology to inhale in a different way now that doesn’t involve burning the material, it seems tobacco doesn’t have to be demonized in the same way anymore.
Enter dry tobacco vapes. One of the only differences that exists between dry tobacco vapes and dry herb vapes for cannabis, is the temperature needed for vaporization. Cannabis is vaporized at about 160-230º C (320-446º F). Going to 232º C (450º F), and the cannabis will burn. Using the lesser temperatures will mean a lighter vapor, with higher temperatures in the range leading to a thicker vapor.
On the other hand, tobacco vaporizes at a slightly higher temperature, so dry tobacco vapes heat up to about 260º C (500º F). If this sounds high to you (and it will if you’re used to vaping weed), just remember that cigarettes heat up to about 900º C (1,652º F) when being actively puffed on. For complete combustion, you actually have to go higher than this, with temperatures in excess of 1,300º C (2,372º F).
In terms of benefits, while I’m not a doctor, I am an intelligent human being, and a strong supporter of basic logic. By cutting out the major issue (lighting it on fire and inhaling), the majority of detrimental aspects to cigarettes is erased, and what’s left is the plant that was touted as a miracle cure, and used in medicine for literally thousands of years. Whatever actual medical benefits that can be obtained by tobacco, would be much more relevant when vaping it, with few-to-none of the harmful attributes present without heat high enough for combustion.
Why are dry tobacco vapes not a big thing?
This is a great question, and one we could probably debate about all day. My opinion (since I’m writing the article)? Probably for the same reason that vapes in general are demonized. Because they represent moving away from Big Tobacco, and big corporations are known for their power in government. Some would even say that big corporations run the country (and the world). Even for those who disagree, what they can’t disagree with, is how much money big corporations give to the government.
Big Tobacco has had to cede much in the way of profits because of health concerns (which it tried to bury for decades). And the vaporizer game isn’t really a corporate one, or Big Tobacco one, though these corporations are getting in on it as much as possible. So Big Tobacco likes the idea of losing out to healthier means and smaller companies the same way that Big Pharma likes supporting cannabis, a plant that any consumer can grow on their own, superseding the need to buy the pharmaceutical version.
The government seems to be wildly unconcerned with the health of its people. If you have an issue with this statement, perhaps you can explain why opioids are still allowed on the market despite a growing death count that now equals over 100,000 a year. Sure, you could argue that some people need these medications, but chances are, if you’re arguing that, you have been kept monumentally in the dark about natural medicines like ginger (I use it most days to stand up straight), plants like kratom, or even ketamine, which works so well for pain, that even without a government-established market, consumers have been finding their way to clinics on their own.
And what did the government do in response to this gray ketamine market? It legalized a different version, but not for pain. Maybe because ketamine isn’t addictive, can actually solve problems, and can be made easily enough on the black market? How much does the medical industry really like problems being solved? Kind of seems like it prefers the opposite. In fact, when the government did legalize esketamine for major depression, it actually did so with the requirement that the patient also take a regular antidepressant. Which makes so little sense, it’s concerning as to why.
So… why aren’t dry tobacco vapes big yet? Probably because it wasn’t financially viable for Big Tobacco to support them earlier. Or useful to take away one of the biggest factors to lower health in a country with so little preventative medicine (and so much ability for it), it implies a massive desire for the population to be sick. Go ahead and argue the point. While non-working, potentially dangerous vaccines are being pushed on people to the point of threatening their ability to go through daily functions if they refuse them, natural plant-based alternatives to fight coronaviruses were established as far back as 2003, yet for some reason, the government doesn’t like mentioning this at all. Which is odd if you care about your people, considering plants don’t require coming with a Vaccine Injury Program.
Conclusion
While I don’t believe that dry tobacco vapes were thought of as a good idea by major tobacco companies, I do believe they’ll get into it, because they’ll have to. Though the population at large isn’t always the best at making decisions (hence smoking in the first place), one of the awesome factors about life these days, is that if something catches on enough for the masses, big corporations must comply or lose out. And in a time period where trying to recoup health has become important, switching to dry tobacco vapes might be the very best method (better than e-liquid vapes) to get people into consuming tobacco in a safer way.
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Disclaimer: Hi, I’m a researcher and writer. I’m not a doctor, lawyer, or businessperson. All information in my articles is sourced and referenced, and all opinions stated are mine. I am not giving anyone advice, and though I am more than happy to discuss topics, should someone have a further question or concern, they should seek guidance from a relevant professional.
