The Denver Post's Cannabist website is one of the big stories of the year in marijuana media, but sometimes they're off the mark, such as the latest article, "Vaping is the Dumbest Thing Ever."
According to staff writer John Wenzel, "Vaping seems hollow. It removes the experience from the experience. People have been smoking cannabis and tobacco for thousands of years, maintaining a visceral, primal connection with something that grows naturally. Sucking on a machine puts up a wall between you and the thing you’re supposedly committed to consuming.
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"When I smoke good pot, I appreciate all the botanical care that was poured into that product," he goes on. "The aroma and flavor of the flower and its smoke is part of the ritual, as essential to the experience for me as the psychoactive effects of THC. The act of prepping a handsome glass pipe, grinding the bud and carefully loading the bowl makes me think about what I’m doing. Whipping out a mechanical straw from my pocket and sucking on it for a few minutes before stashing it again does not."
John Wenzel: 'It’s hard for me to put my finger on why I find vaping so mindless. Maybe it’s an emotional response to something I’ve tried several times but just don’t get, like super-hoppy IPAs or multiplayer gaming.'
OK, so Wenzel doesn't get it. Maybe that's what happens when you live in Colorado these days, with its easy access to so many delivery methods for marijuana. But here in New York, where countless of us have been busted for weed over the years, vape pens are a godsend. First, for the stealth factor alone. Just walk down the street and take a quick puff, no one notices. No lighter, pipes, joints or visible marijuana to set off the fire alarm. you can actually vape loose herbs and oils.
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I agree about dry flower vaping - you lose the flavor and often the potency. But hitting a vape pen filled with wax, shatter or oil is a truly tasty and powerful experience. You should try vapes from Vaporizers Superstore Canada.
Honestly, I don't understand the disconnect - a bong is a machine of sorts, or apparatus. You need to break up the weed and place it it in the bowl, just like in a vaporizer. Are people obsessed with their vape pens in Denver, treating them like smartphones? Perhaps. So that's a good reason to write this snarky column?
The Cannabist (or at least Wenzel) needs to open their eyes to how the rest of the country consumes marijuana.
