Hey guys! I'm really enjoying catching up through all of your journals!
What's interesting is that I'm seeing everyones last four months of their lives in a matter of two hours so patterns begin to emerge especially where you guys talk about your health. What concerns me is when I hear about deteriorating lung capacity. I have an arthritis known as Schleraderma. My inflammation does not exist in my joints, but rather it is in my soft tissues such as all layers of my skin including synovial tissues (tissue that forms the protective sheath around muscles, tendons, etc.) as well as tendons and ligaments. Schleraderma translates directly to "Hard Skin". Advanced forms of Scheraderma will begin to attack the pulmonary system and therefore I get regular Pulmonary Stress Tests (PST) to keep check on my lung function. Because of this, I keep finding ways of minimizing the stress I put on my lungs. Where am I going with this?
Almost all of you use Bic lighters to measure your buds. However, I notice that the colors of your lighters change quite often which means you buy them quite often because, like me, they get used a lot! Now this is not a matter of cost but health.
Bic lighter are designed specifically to light a cigarette with a single quick light. They are not designed for the different methods of using marijuana, especially with the long-burning methods such as using a bong or even lighting a joint or a blunt. I used to smoke a pack of cigs a day and could keep the same Bic lighter for more than a month (as long as I didn't lose it). Smoking pot though, you have to have 2 or three laying around and I can go through 4 or 5 in a month. So what's the big deal?
Besides the fact that Bic lighters are no longer adjustable, they use rare-earth metals to create the spark. Next time you flick your Bic, notice the smoke that rises just as you light it? Butane doesn't smoke! But for cig smokers that puff of smoke usually goes away before you light your cigarette so you never ingest this crap.
When you "flick" the wheel, you create a spray of this metal which ignites and then ignites the butane stream leaving the lighter canister. Unfortunately, not all of this rare-earth metal ignites so it begins to form a coating on the inside of the metal screen around the lighter which builds up as you use the lighter more. If your a cig smoker and only use the lighter for a second or two, there is no issue. It's not uncommon for pot smokers to keep the lighter going for 5 seconds or even longer which allows this rare-earth metal build up to slowly ignite as you inhale in your bong.
How do I know this? I use a pocket vaporizer (Vapor Genie) and i was wondering what all the redish build up that was coating the ceramic stone. Guess what it is?
So here's what I want you guys to do. Buy a piezoelectric lighter. Mine cost me $7 from 7-11 (right next to the Bic lighters). You can get either the flame or torch depending on your needs. Then go to your local smoke shop and get a $5 can of Vector 5x filtered Butane. It will last you at least 6 months. Butane burns to pure water and carbon dioxide. Unfortunately anything else that's in the butane will more than likely be toxic, hence the filtering.
Buy a lighter like you would a pair of sunglasses. If you lose your sunglasses a lot then buy cheap piezoelectric lighters. If you can keep a good pair of sunglasses, you can keep a nice "signature" lighter. Lighters can have style too!
Now, do you guys want me to start talking about the virtues of vaporization (too late)? Burning organic materials such as tobacco or hemp flowers, create Carbon-Monoxide, Tar and every other Carcinogen you normally inhale around a campfire due to the normal course of combustion. Have you guys ever
really tasted your wonderfully grown weed? This week I'm smoking God's Gift. Sweet tasting vapor with a strong taste of chocolate!
In a vaporizer the plant material never burns, and THC only vaporizes while heat is applied. I pack my Vapor Genie and then take short draws on it over a 4 or 5 hour period so I can be medicated and still functional. And then at the end of the day I pack up a bowl and just keep hitting it until I can't exhale any more vapor, I tap the spent weed into a container to save for making hash oil or butter, and then go into couch-RIU-lock and read through all your threads!
My VaporGenie cost $45 from my smoke shop. One of these days I'm gonna get me a Volcano!
Don't get me wrong because I love to smoke and I love the taste of a really huge bong hit and how crazy it can make you. But most of us here are medical patients, which means thinking of our health is Job #1 over the long run. And that's all I'm concerned about.