What is the Safest Way to Consume Cannabis? Comparing Methods and Reducing Risks

After a deca­de of stud­ying cann­abis and its effe­cts, I’ve heard this ques­tion coun­tles­s times: “What’s the safe­st way to smoke weed?” I need to be stra­ight with you from the start—there is no comp­lete­ly safe way to smoke cann­abis. Even the pure­st, orga­nica­lly-grown flow­er prod­uces harm­ful comp­ound­s when burn­ed.

That said, not all cons­umpt­ion meth­ods carry equal risks. Let’s expl­ore your opti­ons and how to mini­mize pote­ntia­l harm if you choo­se to use cann­abis.

The Hard Truth About Smok­ing Cann­abis

When I first star­ted rese­arch­ing cann­abis, I was surp­rise­d to disc­over that cann­abis smoke cont­ains many of the same toxi­ns found in toba­cco smoke. The comb­usti­on proc­ess—rega­rdle­ss of what plant mate­rial you’re burn­ing—crea­tes tar, carb­on mono­xide, and carc­inog­ens.

From what I’ve seen in my rese­arch, regu­lar cann­abis smok­ing can lead to:

• Chro­nic bron­chit­is symp­toms (that pers­iste­nt “smok­er’s cough”)
• Airw­ay infl­amma­tion and irri­tati­on
• Incr­ease­d phle­gm prod­ucti­on
• High­er susc­epti­bili­ty to resp­irat­ory infe­ctio­ns

One myth I freq­uent­ly debu­nk in my harm redu­ctio­n work­shop­s: hold­ing in smoke doesn’t get you high­er. THC abso­rpti­on happ­ens with­in seco­nds. Those extra seco­nds just allow more tar to sett­le in your lungs. I’ve watc­hed coun­tles­s cann­abis users dama­ge their lungs unne­cess­aril­y beca­use of this misc­once­ptio­n.

Comp­arin­g Diff­eren­t Smok­ing Meth­ods

Not all smok­ing meth­ods affe­ct your lungs equa­lly. Let’s break them down:

Join­ts vs. Blun­ts

Join­ts typi­call­y use thin paper, while blun­ts use toba­cco leaf wrap­pers. From what I’ve obse­rved, blun­ts tend to have more harm­ful effe­cts on the resp­irat­ory syst­em than join­ts.

Why? Toba­cco wrap­pers cont­ain addi­tion­al toxi­ns like nitr­osam­ines. Plus, they burn hott­er and less comp­lete­ly, crea­ting more tar. The nico­tine in blunt wrap­pers also intr­oduc­es its own heal­th conc­erns.

If you roll join­ts, opt for unbl­each­ed, FDA-appr­oved pape­rs with­out added flav­ors or dyes. Rese­arch has shown that some roll­ing pape­rs cont­ain harm­ful subs­tanc­es. A study cond­ucte­d by SC Labs in Cali­forn­ia found that a sign­ific­ant numb­er of roll­ing pape­rs test­ed cont­aine­d dete­ctab­le leve­ls of heavy meta­ls and pest­icid­es. 

Bongs and Glass Pipes

Many users beli­eve water filt­rati­on in bongs makes smok­ing safer. While bongs do cool the smoke and filt­er out some part­icul­ates (maki­ng hits feel smoo­ther), they don’t remo­ve the harm­ful comp­ound­s that dama­ge your lungs.

I’ve look­ed into this exte­nsiv­ely — while water filt­rati­on can help remo­ve some visi­ble part­icle­s, it doesn’t filt­er out the most harm­ful comp­onen­ts of smoke. Bongs can also deli­ver larg­er, more conc­entr­ated hits, which may incr­ease expo­sure to toxi­ns. 

Glass is defi­nite­ly a bett­er opti­on than plas­tic or metal pipes, as the latt­er mate­rial­s can rele­ase addi­tion­al toxi­ns when heat­ed. From what I’ve seen in my obse­rvat­ions, acry­lic bongs, in part­icul­ar, can prod­uce conc­erni­ng resu­lts, so it’s best to avoid them. 

Pro tip: Regu­larl­y clean your glass piec­es. The buil­dup doesn’t just look bad. It can harb­or bact­eria and mold that you’re inha­ling with each hit.

Dabb­ing Conc­entr­ates

Dabb­ing invo­lves vapo­rizi­ng cann­abis conc­entr­ates at high temp­erat­ures. While tech­nica­lly not “smok­ing,” it still intr­oduc­es conc­erns.

In rese­arch on conc­entr­ates, it’s been found that poor­ly made prod­ucts can cont­ain resi­dual solv­ents or cont­amin­ants. The high THC cont­ent — often rang­ing from 60% to 90% — also rais­es the pote­ntia­l for psyc­holo­gica­l side effe­cts and incr­ease­d risk of depe­nden­ce.”

The high temp­erat­ures used in dabb­ing can also crea­te new comp­ound­s not pres­ent in the orig­inal conc­entr­ate. We’re still stud­ying the long-term effe­cts of these comp­ound­s.

Vapi­ng Cann­abis: A Mixed Bag

Vapi­ng has been mark­eted as a heal­thie­r alte­rnat­ive to smok­ing, but the real­ity is more comp­lica­ted.

Vape Cart­ridg­es and Conc­entr­ates

The 2019 EVALI outb­reak (which caus­ed seve­re lung inju­ries and deat­hs) high­ligh­ted the dang­ers of unre­gula­ted vape prod­ucts. The culp­rit was vita­min E acet­ate, used as a cutt­ing agent in some cart­ridg­es.

This outb­reak serv­es as a stark remi­nder of the pote­ntia­l dang­ers of unre­gula­ted cann­abis prod­ucts. Vita­min E acet­ate, while safe in skin­care prod­ucts, beco­mes extr­emel­y harm­ful when heat­ed and inha­led. Our lab iden­tifi­ed nume­rous cases of pati­ents with seve­re lung dama­ge trac­eabl­e to this comp­ound. Some pati­ents deve­lope­d a cond­itio­n requ­irin­g ICU trea­tmen­t, and sadly, some didn’t surv­ive.

Duri­ng our rese­arch, we’ve also found conc­erni­ng leve­ls of heavy meta­ls leac­hing from cheap vape hard­ware into oils. When heat­ed, cert­ain addi­tive­s can form harm­ful comp­ound­s like kete­ne.

Dry Herb Vapo­rize­rs

Vapo­rizi­ng cann­abis flow­er (rath­er than conc­entr­ates) at lower temp­erat­ures appe­ars to be less harm­ful than smok­ing. A 2006 study I freq­uent­ly cite show­ed fewer resp­irat­ory symp­toms among users who swit­ched from smok­ing to vapo­rizi­ng.

Why? Lower-temp­erat­ure vapo­riza­tion rele­ases cann­abin­oids and terp­enes with­out crea­ting as many comb­usti­on bypr­oduc­ts. You’re esse­ntia­lly gett­ing the acti­ve comp­ound­s with­out burn­ing the plant mate­rial.

Howe­ver, I need to emph­asiz­e that “less harm­ful” doesn’t mean “safe.” We still need more long-term stud­ies on vapi­ng cann­abis flow­er.

Smoke-Free Alte­rnat­ives

If you’re seri­ous about redu­cing heal­th risks, cons­ider these non-inha­lati­on meth­ods:

Edib­les

Cann­abis-infu­sed foods and beve­rage­s comp­lete­ly elim­inat­e resp­irat­ory risks. Howe­ver, they pres­ent diff­eren­t cons­ider­atio­ns:

• Effe­cts take long­er to appe­ar (30 minu­tes to 2 hours) but last much long­er (6-8 hours)
• Dosi­ng can be tric­kier—I’ve seen too many pati­ents in dist­ress after unde­rest­imat­ing edib­les
• The liver conv­erts THC to 11-hydr­oxy-THC, which can prod­uce stro­nger effe­cts

Reme­mber: Start low, go slow. I cann­ot emph­asiz­e this enou­gh, espe­cial­ly with edib­les. Alwa­ys begin with 2.5mg of THC if you’re new to edib­les—even if more expe­rien­ced frie­nds sugg­est othe­rwis­e. You can alwa­ys take more in anot­her sess­ion, but you cann­ot undo cons­umpt­ion once it’s done. Many nega­tive cann­abis expe­rien­ces resu­lt from igno­ring this fund­amen­tal prin­cipl­e.

Tinc­ture­s and Subl­ingu­al Prod­ucts

These alco­hol or oil-based extr­acts can be plac­ed under the tong­ue for fast­er abso­rpti­on thro­ugh the oral muco­sa. They typi­call­y take effe­ct in 15-45 minu­tes—fast­er than edib­les but slow­er than inha­lati­on.

I pers­onal­ly pref­er tinc­ture­s when I need prec­ise dosi­ng. The drop­per allo­ws for cons­iste­nt meas­urem­ent, and I can adju­st as need­ed.

Topi­cals

Cann­abis-infu­sed crea­ms, balms, and patc­hes work loca­lly with­out prod­ucin­g psyc­hoac­tive effe­cts (unle­ss they cont­ain spec­ial tran­sder­mal tech­nolo­gy). They’re exce­llen­t for loca­lize­d pain and infl­amma­tion.

From my obse­rvat­ions, topi­cals show prom­ise for arth­riti­s, musc­le sore­ness, and some skin cond­itio­ns with­out the risks asso­ciat­ed with smok­ing.

Harm Redu­ctio­n Tips for Smok­ers

If you still choo­se to smoke cann­abis, these evid­ence-based prac­tice­s can redu­ce (thou­gh not elim­inat­e) risks:

1. Don’t hold the smoke in your lungs – Exha­le prom­ptly to mini­mize tar expo­sure
2. Use clean glass piec­es – Avoid plas­tic, metal, or rubb­er comp­onen­ts that can off-gas
3. Clean your equi­pmen­t regu­larl­y – Prev­ent buil­dup of harm­ful resi­dues
4. Cons­ider using a hemp wick – Avoid inha­ling buta­ne from ligh­ters
5. Take smal­ler hits – Less smoke per inha­lati­on means less irri­tati­on
6. Stay hydr­ated – Helps mana­ge dry mouth and thro­at irri­tati­on
7. Give your lungs brea­ks – Regu­lar “tole­ranc­e brea­ks” allow for some reco­very

Beyo­nd Meth­od: Other Safe­ty Cons­ider­atio­ns

The cons­umpt­ion meth­od is just one aspe­ct of cann­abis safe­ty. Also cons­ider:

• Sour­ce and qual­ity: Legal, test­ed prod­ucts redu­ce risks of cont­amin­ants like pest­icid­es, molds, and heavy meta­ls
• Pote­ncy awar­enes­s: Today’s cann­abis is sign­ific­antl­y stro­nger than in the past deca­des
• Indi­vidu­al fact­ors: Your pers­onal heal­th hist­ory, medi­cati­ons, and even gene­tics affe­ct how cann­abis impa­cts you
• Sett­ing and mind­set: Where and why you’re using can infl­uenc­e your expe­rien­ce

Legal Mark­et vs. Illi­cit Mark­et

The impo­rtan­ce of purc­hasi­ng cann­abis from legal, regu­late­d sour­ces cann­ot be over­stat­ed. In my rese­arch comp­arin­g lega­lly purc­hase­d prod­ucts with those from the illi­cit mark­et, the diff­eren­ces were alar­ming.

Legal disp­ensa­ries offer prod­ucts that must unde­rgo comp­rehe­nsiv­e safe­ty prot­ocol­s, incl­udin­g:

• Comp­lete seed-to-sale trac­king that docu­ment­s the plant’s jour­ney from cult­ivat­ion to purc­hase
• Rigo­rous test­ing for accu­rate pote­ncy labe­ling (THC/CBD perc­enta­ges)
• Spec­ific scre­enin­g for harm­ful cont­amin­ants, incl­udin­g:
  • Over 100 pest­icid­es and grow­th regu­lato­rs
  • Heavy meta­ls (lead, arse­nic, cadm­ium, merc­ury)
  • Resi­dual solv­ents in conc­entr­ates
  • Micr­obio­logi­cal impu­riti­es (E. coli, Salm­onel­la, aspe­rgil­lus, etc.)
  • Myco­toxi­ns prod­uced by fungi
• Stan­dard­ized qual­ity cont­rol for cons­iste­nt proc­essi­ng and pack­agin­g
• Regu­lar faci­lity insp­ecti­ons to ensu­re comp­lian­ce with safe­ty regu­lati­ons

By cont­rast, our anal­ysis of illi­cit mark­et prod­ucts freq­uent­ly reve­aled:

• Inac­cura­te pote­ncy clai­ms (often exag­gera­ted THC leve­ls)
• Dang­erou­s cont­amin­ants, incl­udin­g pest­icid­es bann­ed for use on cons­umab­le plan­ts
• Resi­dual solv­ents in conc­entr­ates at leve­ls far exce­edin­g safe­ty stan­dard­s
• Mold and bact­eria that pose seri­ous heal­th risks, part­icul­arly to immu­noco­mpro­mise­d indi­vidu­als

The prem­ium you pay at a lice­nsed disp­ensa­ry isn’t just for legal peace of mind—it’s an inve­stme­nt in your heal­th and safe­ty. This is espe­cial­ly impo­rtan­t for medi­cal cann­abis users whose heal­th cond­itio­ns may make them more vuln­erab­le to cont­amin­ants.

Unde­rsta­ndin­g Mode­rn Cann­abis Pote­ncy and Dosi­ng

Today’s cann­abis bears litt­le rese­mbla­nce to what was avai­labl­e deca­des ago. Thro­ugh sele­ctiv­e bree­ding, THC conc­entr­atio­ns have incr­ease­d dram­atic­ally—from an aver­age of 4% in the 1990s to often 20-30% in mode­rn stra­ins.

This pote­ncy shift has sign­ific­ant impl­icat­ions for resp­onsi­ble use, rein­forc­ing our prim­ary safe­ty mant­ra: START LOW, GO SLOW.

Reco­mmen­ded Star­ting Doses by Meth­od

• Inha­lati­on: Start with a sing­le, small puff and wait 15 minu­tes befo­re cons­ider­ing more
• Tinc­ture­s: Begin with 2-5mg THC and wait at least an hour to asse­ss effe­cts
• Edib­les: 2.5mg THC is a prud­ent star­ting point, wait­ing a full 2 hours befo­re addi­tion­al cons­umpt­ion
• Topi­cals: Apply to a small area first to test for skin sens­itiv­ity

Based on our obse­rvat­ions, the most comm­on adve­rse expe­rien­ces with cann­abis stem from cons­umin­g too much too quic­kly. “Start low, go slow” isn’t just a catc­hphr­ase—it’s the most evid­ence-based appr­oach to find­ing your opti­mal dose.

Signs of Cann­abis Hype­reme­sis Synd­rome

One spec­ific risk worth high­ligh­ting is Cann­abis Hype­reme­sis Synd­rome (CHS), a cond­itio­n we’re seei­ng with incr­easi­ng freq­uenc­y in long-term, heavy cann­abis users.

CHS caus­es cycl­ical, seve­re vomi­ting epis­odes that can be debi­lita­ting. Early warn­ing signs incl­ude:

• Morn­ing naus­ea
• Abdo­mina­l pain
• Reli­ef from hot show­ers or baths (a pecu­liar but tell­tale symp­tom)

If you expe­rien­ce these symp­toms, cons­ider a cann­abis break and cons­ult a heal­thca­re prov­ider. In seve­re cases, CHS can lead to dehy­drat­ion, requ­irin­g hosp­ital­izat­ion.

Who Shou­ld Avoid Cann­abis Enti­rely

While I’ve focu­sed on harm redu­ctio­n, cert­ain indi­vidu­als shou­ld avoid cann­abis comp­lete­ly:

• Adol­esce­nts and young adul­ts: Cann­abis can affe­ct brain deve­lopm­ent, which cont­inue­s until appr­oxim­atel­y age 25
• Preg­nant and brea­stfe­edin­g indi­vidu­als: THC cros­ses the plac­enta and ente­rs brea­st milk, with pote­ntia­l impa­cts on fetal and infa­nt deve­lopm­ent
• Peop­le with pers­onal or stro­ng fami­ly hist­ory of psyc­hosi­s, schi­zoph­reni­a, or bipo­lar diso­rder: Cann­abis can trig­ger or wors­en these cond­itio­ns
• Those with cert­ain card­iac cond­itio­ns: Cann­abis can incr­ease heart rate and blood pres­sure
• Indi­vidu­als with a hist­ory of subs­tanc­e use diso­rder­s: The risk of deve­lopi­ng prob­lema­tic cann­abis use may be high­er

Addi­tion­al Safe­ty Cons­ider­atio­ns

Beyo­nd cons­umpt­ion meth­ods, seve­ral other fact­ors are cruc­ial for safe cann­abis use:

• Never drive under the infl­uenc­e: Cann­abis sign­ific­antl­y impa­irs reac­tion time, coor­dina­tion, and judg­ment. Wait at least 4-6 hours after smok­ing and 8-12 hours after edib­les befo­re driv­ing.
• Talk open­ly with your heal­thca­re prov­ider­s: Cann­abis can inte­ract with nume­rous medi­cati­ons and affe­ct trea­tmen­t deci­sion­s. This is not opti­onal safe­ty advi­ce—it’s esse­ntia­l. Tell your doct­or about your cann­abis use, even if they don’t spec­ific­ally ask. Heal­thca­re prov­ider­s need this info­rmat­ion to:
  • Prev­ent pote­ntia­lly dang­erou­s drug inte­ract­ions
  • Accu­rate­ly inte­rpre­t cert­ain symp­toms or lab resu­lts
  • Adju­st medi­cati­on dosa­ges if nece­ssar­y
  • Prov­ide appr­opri­ate scre­enin­g for pote­ntia­l cann­abis-rela­ted heal­th issu­es

Doct­or-pati­ent conf­iden­tial­ity prot­ects this info­rmat­ion, so be hone­st about freq­uenc­y, meth­od, and amou­nt of use.

• Secu­re stor­age: Keep cann­abis prod­ucts in chil­dpro­of cont­aine­rs away from chil­dren and pets, who can expe­rien­ce seve­re adve­rse effe­cts from acci­dent­al inge­stio­n. 
• Avoid mixi­ng with alco­hol or other subs­tanc­es: Comb­inat­ions can prod­uce unpr­edic­tabl­e and pote­ntia­lly dang­erou­s effe­cts.

My Pers­onal Pers­pect­ive

After years of rese­arch­ing cann­abis and its effe­cts, I’ve chos­en to stop smok­ing. I now prim­aril­y use tinc­ture­s and occa­sion­ally a high-qual­ity dry herb vapo­rize­r when I want fast­er onset. 

This chan­ge came after lear­ning about the micr­osco­pic dama­ge smok­ing can cause to lung tiss­ue. The evid­ence was clear and impo­ssib­le to igno­re, even for some­one who appr­ecia­tes cann­abis.

The Bott­om Line

If you’re look­ing for the abso­lute safe­st way to cons­ume cann­abis, edib­les, tinc­ture­s, and topi­cals win hands down. They elim­inat­e the resp­irat­ory risks enti­rely.

If you pref­er inha­lati­on, dry herb vapo­riza­tion at lower temp­erat­ures appe­ars to be less harm­ful than smok­ing, thou­gh not risk-free.

What­ever meth­od you choo­se, start with low doses, know your sour­ce, and be mind­ful of your indi­vidu­al heal­th needs. Cann­abis can be used resp­onsi­bly, but like any subs­tanc­e that affe­cts your body, it’s best to appr­oach it with some resp­ect and caut­ion.