Juuling or Vaping Tobacco is devastating to your health!

Sorry if you snoop through this blog trying to find comfort in inhaling artificial fumes, tobacco, and THC…

Vaping is an excuse to postpone coping with addiction. This blog requires laying out a few basic structures to help understand the difference between scientific research of a specific product and the implications (while disregarding the scientific knowledge) into an actual circumstance. 

In TCM (traditional Chinese medicine), we comb through the history registered by many people who have documented their findings, ideas, and results, and define an early understanding of herbal powers. Rosemary with Arnica, as an example, has been documented as far back as 2000BC for its advantage in reducing leg pain (muscle, tendons, ligaments), amongst many other benefits. Crepitus, recognized by a popping or cracking sound in the knee, is helped by rubbing sesame oil atop the joint area…

Millions of people have used Rosemary remedies, and scholars have passed their refined wisdom down to pupils through modern generations. Today, it is applied for migraines, menstrual cramps, and concentration-remedy (the oil is not harvested in the specific matter mentioned above). Books are written about their benefits for hair restoration. Neurological research claims that it cures Alzheimer’s, although that is still questionable… be wary of anyone using the word “cure”! Mediterranean chefs for centuries spiced their pasta dishes with this herb, following an ancient tradition. Candlemakers love Rosemary’s strong scent… its usage seems unlimited.

Today, we can DNA fingerprint Rosemarinus Officinalis and compare current research on many levels with past scriptures. Today, we confirm that the human muscular cell structure and blood vessels react positively towards the anti-thrombotic effect of these oils in preventing blood clots. Rosemary does seem to activate brain memory, as claimed by Shakespeare.

Our nervous system and brain sensors react positively towards beta-amyloid plaques, and hence, Rosemary suppresses acetyl-cholinesterase (AChE), which is are primary cause of Alzheimer’s ataxia and dementia.

We can pinpoint why we feel relieved when rubbing “healing oil” on our skin – we now understand how it is absorbed and what human profiles react positively to its smell, flavor, and essence. We can even demonstrate why plant extract creates adverse reactions in the human body, like burns, numbness, hives, or what causes blistering discomfort. 

That’s all about one herb. However, as soon as we combine one with another plant essence, we start a whole new chain of discovery… Triple or quadruple a TCM-mix, and the potential becomes complex. True herbology rarely uses a “single application” for prescription use… Furthermore, traditional medicine respects that each body/person reacts differently at various states of age and health, and living in many climates. What might feel soothing to one could be life-threatening to another. 

Throughout the history of “4000 years of Rosemary-emollient-investigation” – trial tested on billions of people – no significant study has ever suggested that smoking its oil would result in an advantage. None of the respected TCM scriptures suggests that inhaling fumes into our bronchi would treat ailments or benefit human health. None!

And now, let’s talk about vaping: Basically, an electronically heated substance we inhale for pleasure… that is fused with chemically designed oils or artificial flavors to trick our minds into believing it smells like rosemary vanilla or citrus. Keep in mind, the FDA categorizes seasoning differently from nutritional and manufacturing, relying on you not realizing misleading labeling and claims. It’s as convoluted as the term decriminalizing Marihuana from legalizing it. It should be decriminalized (and all jailed people for possession must be freed…), but legalizing it would saturate the market with concocted products falsely claiming to contain medical benefits (already happening) and bogus products that can be dangerous, even deadly!

Vaping, or vaporizing, is the process of heating raw plant matter or chemical extracts without combustion. Instead of burning weed, tobacco, or hash, vaporizing quickly heats various substances (mixes) to limit the release of harmful chemicals and to maximize the part of the plant’s intended effects. Cannabis is typically heated between >285°F and <450°F, and tobacco vapes between >250°F and <300°F.  The smoking point of CBD oil is 332°F (165°C)… (besides, there is no significant benefit recorded of hemp-extracted oil…)

Vapor has more in common with a cloud of steam than with a puff of smoke. And even though vaping reduces the effects of secondhand smoke, it doesn’t mean you’re not experiencing a drug’s effects as a bystander. Most plant oils “burn” and become unhealthy at different degrees of heat (Read: vapor level and smoking points of oils). 

Juul vapes heat up to around 420°F…

The properties we absorb while vaporizing differ, depending on what we inhale. You can inhale tobacco, THC hash, and endless combinations of substances, including orange oils (smoke point 350°F), cinnamon plant matter, and synthetic additives. Sometimes these substances turn into a gaseous form, and sometimes vaping means inhaling liquid particles suspended in the air as they cool after evaporation. Either way, the method at first is the same: Drug molecules, after being inhaled, land on the interior lungs, which have an enormous surface area to catch them. The molecules then pass directly into the blood and bypass the digestive system. From there, the effects hit your brain in about five seconds, which is almost as quick as injecting the substance.

Let’s skip how the lungs cope with getting rid of the “garbage” left inside; just read up on COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease).

So, Juuling (a brand name adapted verb) is the foremost “go-to” tool for teenagers in 2018. They annoyingly blow nicotine-steam, laced with oils and chemicals that “taste” like Vanilla,  Rosemary, or fantastic flavors. Even Marijuana-infused e-cigarettes come with chemical additives. Although vaping is promoted foremost to a younger generation as a healthy alternative to smoking, statistically, only 2% of cigarette smokers have actually quit through vaping. 9% admit to smoking “real” cigarettes after starting with e-cigarettes. The five billion vapor industry fails to honestly communicate a science-based message about the known side effects that lack a long-term study, and warn about the consequences of this modern diversion accurately. We promote until we know better… (Since this blog was published in 2018, the science world has concluded that vaping is no better than smoking…)

In TCM, we promote certain essences to be inhaled through steam, i.e., clearing your sinus – bent over the sink under a towel – inhaling Tiger-Balm (fumes) smeared onto the porcelain below. At the same time, the hot water faucet is fully opened… This does not compare to circumventing what the nose is designed to filter out while inhaling medicinal substances before it coats the surface of our bronchi. Drawing in overheated artificial substances through your mouth without any true purpose (other than getting high…) seems questionable. I’m also not convinced that the vanilla-cloud puffing teen in a restaurant next to me looks particularly “cool” or hip…

Nicotine is addictive. >50% of all e-cigarettes contain tobacco. The leaf-drying process had been shown to prevent Tuberculosis in factory workers during the early 19th century. TCM respects the healing properties of Tobacco. Throughout South and North America, tobacco is consumed in various ways: chewed, sniffed, smoked, eaten, juiced, smeared over bodies, and used in eye drops and enemas. It still carries a mystic “smoke” of purification spirits after blessing fields and praising the Gods.

Today, the same tobacco companies – denying for decades that smoking caused cancer – now aim to hook teens on vaping. We adapted against their efforts that smoking was the foremost cause of lung-, bone-, gum cancer, and birth deformities, but now allow to hold a truth that inhaling steam-derived essence is less dangerous. We have to willfully ignore modern studies that the use of smokeless tobacco includes: Mouth-, tongue-, cheek-, and gum cancer.

Surely, by-products inhaled by burning wrapping papers and fillers are more unhealthy than flavored vapor steam. The new expensive studies claiming that juuling is harmless are sponsored by companies that denied that cigarette smoking caused cancer.   We are smarter today than we were yesterday, right? Nicotine addiction prevented smokers in the ’80s from giving up their habit while dying of cancer in their hospital beds. Tobacco addiction is the culprit here, not the method in which we ingest the essence! Got hooked?

TCMchef Raphael