What Happens To Your Body When You Smoke Dabs?
What are the possible side effects of smoking dabs?
As the cannabis industry has developed, so have methods of ingestion. No longer are we stuck with the limited options of smoking weed in joints or bongs like our grandparents had to endure!
Instead, you can now smoke cannabis concentrates like California Orange (AAAA) – Popcorn Nugs and Crumble – Banana OG by using various increasingly sophisticated techniques that promise to deliver more potency and flavour than ever before.
But there’s a dark side to dabbing: The concentrated doses of THC and other chemicals used in dabs are often cut with dangerous substances such as pesticides, embalming fluid, and butane.
They’re also more potent than traditional forms of weed, meaning they can cause different—and often more severe—side effects.
In this article, we’ll discuss 6 of these side effects of smoking dabs and unpack why they occur with dabbing specifically rather than when smoking other cannabis products.
Why Weed Dabbing May Be Dangerous For You
What could lead to the side effects of smoking dabs? Here are some of the reasons.
1. Dangerously High THC levels
The THC level in dabs is incredibly high, which means you can quickly get very high. The average concentration of THC in marijuana is around 15-25%.
In comparison, the average concentration of THC in dabs is 60-80%. This means that smoking one dab will give you a more significant amount of marijuana’s main psychoactive ingredient than smoking an entire joint!
However, there are even higher concentrations available out there. If you want to experience the most substantial possible effects from your dabbing, look for concentrates that contain 99% or more THC.
Because dabbing involves heating concentrated cannabinoids like THC until they vaporize into smoke, it creates a highly potent experience that often leads to feeling dizzy and confused after use.
This can cause a person to take more hits from their rig or bong than they normally would if they were simply smoking flowers or leaves from a joint or pipe because their tolerance level has been lowered due to using concentrates instead of raw flower buds–or worse yet–they continue taking hits despite being too intoxicated/high because ‘everything seems fine right now but I might start feeling sick later on so better make sure I stay ahead.’
Dabbers should be aware that these extremely high levels of THC can produce serious adverse side effects on their bodies and minds after just one hit!
2. The Dabs are Often Cut With Dangerous Substances
In their purest form, Dabs are made from cannabis concentrates that are extracted from the flower.
These concentrates can be made with several different processes and have varying degrees of purity.
The most common type of extraction involves butane gas or propane to extract a highly potent hash oil concentrate called BHO (butane hash oil).
The problem is that these dabs are often cut with other chemicals, which can be more harmful than cannabis itself.
In addition, some companies sell pre-made dabs that may contain additives such as synthetic cannabinoids. These chemicals can cause anxiety attacks, paranoia and hallucinations.
6 Common Side Effects Of Smoking Dabs
While dabbing is often seen as a safer alternative to smoking, dabbing side effects of smoking dabs are similar to those of smoking weed, such as paranoia and aggression. In addition, it has also been linked to more severe issues like hallucinations and psychosis.
Let’s address some of the most common side effects of smoking dabs to better understand if you should be concerned about your use or the use of a loved one.
1. Lung Disease
One of the possible side effects of smoking dabs is lung damage. This is especially true for those who have never smoked before or for long-time smokers who have not been able to quit.
The high levels of heat and chemicals involved in dabbing can cause inflammation, which may lead to shortness of breath, chronic coughing and other symptoms associated with COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease).
2. Aggressiveness
One of the dangers of smoking dabs or dangers of dabbing weed is, Dabs can cause you to become hostile, irritable and angry. This is because dabbing has a high THC content, which is the psychoactive ingredient in cannabis that causes people to get high.
In addition to causing mental health problems like these, dabs can also cause physical side effects such as nausea or vomiting and lung problems like bronchitis and emphysema associated with smoking cigarettes or other tobacco products.
3. Paranoia
Paranoia is a symptom of several different conditions, including schizophrenia. Paranoia is one of the most common side effects of smoking dabs.
Paranoia is the feeling that someone is watching you or following you. If you’ve ever felt like eyes were on you, or like everyone knows what’s going on in your head, it’s possible that paranoia was at play (though not likely).
Paranoia can lead to misguided actions and irrational fears about seemingly benign situations and people—like believing someone has been following them for weeks when they really just passed them by once in passing at work—and thus leads us into our next side effect.
4. Anxiety
Anxiety is a feeling of unease, such as worry or fear, often accompanied by nervous behaviour like pacing back and forth, and a general feeling of being upset. As a long-term effect of dabbing, it can cause anxiety.
The symptoms may include restlessness; difficulty concentrating or thinking straight; irritability, muscle tension; fatigue; insomnia, headaches; sweating; increased heart rate/tachycardia or irregular heartbeat/arrhythmia.
5. Flashbacks
One of the common side effects of smoking dabs is flashbacks, which can be described as “powerful and vivid memories of past experiences.”
Flashbacks are often triggered by smells, sounds and images that can take you back to a specific time in your life. They can last anywhere from a few seconds to an hour and may make you feel confused or disoriented.
If you’re experiencing flashbacks after smoking dabs, it’s essential that they don’t lead to long-term issues; since flashback episodes can be distressing and even frightening (particularly if they occur while driving), it’s crucial that they do not become part of an ongoing pattern.
6. Psychosis
Psychosis, or psychotic episodes, is a symptom of many mental disorders. You may have heard of schizophrenia, which causes psychosis as one of its primary symptoms.
Psychosis can be caused by drugs like dabs and marijuana.
This is because there are compounds in these substances that mimic the chemicals released by the brain during a psychotic episode: dopamine and glutamate.
If you’ve ever smoked dabs before and felt paranoid or confused afterwards, then you know what we’re talking about!
These feelings are usually short-term, though—they’re not supposed to last indefinitely like they do when someone has full-blown schizophrenia (which isn’t even fun for anyone involved). This is one of the effects of dabs on the brain.
Side Effects Of Smoking Dabs; Final Thoughts
Dabs have become increasingly popular because they are easy to make and provide an incredibly potent high. However, the side effects of dabs are also severe.
This is partly due to the high temperatures used during the dabbing process and the use of butane gas as a solvent for extracting THC.
These methods produce a substance with very high levels of THC, which has been linked to lung disease and other serious health problems.
Dabbing also presents additional risks when users cut their dabs with other substances or fail to clean their devices before smoking them again.
All in all, it’s best to stick with the traditional cannabis flower if you’re looking for a safer way of inhaling marijuana into your lungs while still getting a good head buzz from it!
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