Are vaping and smoking the same? Ray Rodrigues won’t say
Photo: Phil Sears

Legislature 36 ps 050517

As the medical marijuana implementation bill winds its way through the Special Session, some lawmakers still are grappling with whether smoking medicinal cannabis is the same as ‘vaping’ it.

Before the Health and Human Services Committee approved the House bill (HB 5A) on Wednesday night, members asked bill sponsor Ray Rodrigues, the House Republican Leader from Estero.

“Are we allowing smoking?” asked Rep. Thad Altman, an Indialantic Republican. Nope, said Rodrigues, just vaping—short for vaporizing.

Earlier Wednesday, John Morgan—attorney, entrepreneur and main backer of Florida’s medical marijuana amendment—said he still plans to sue the state because lawmakers won’t explicitly allow smokeable medicinal cannabis.

“I will be suing the state to allow smoke,” he said in a statement to FloridaPolitics.com. “It was part of my amendment.”

It’s not entirely clear that it is; the amendment’s language can be read as allowing smoking but doesn’t make it explicit.

“Is vaping igniting?” Altman also asked. Rodrigues punted, saying he wasn’t an expert, but offered that vaping allows more control of marijuana dosage.

Rep. Ralph Massullo, a Lecanto Republican and licensed physician, also dug in.

“If we have the whole flower being ignited … wouldn’t that be a form of smoking?” asked Massullo, a dermatologist.

“I’m not trying to be cute,” Rodrigues said, “but I would need to see it to understand it.”

Medical Jane, a medicinal cannabis information website, says vaping works by “passing heated air over the dried herb (or concentrate), vaporizing the material more evenly and efficiently.” (Debate continues over whether it’s any better for your lungs than smoking, however.)

The marijuana “never comes in touch with the heating element; instead air is either forced by a fan, or through inhalation, over the herbs and through the delivery system,” unlike lighting up and taking a drag on a marijuana cigarette.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Rodrigues still wouldn’t commit.

“As a non-user, I can’t give you that answer,” he said. Given the example of boiling a liquid in a glass container till it gives off vapor, he again deferred.

“You can ask this question in any format you want, I will continue to give the same answer,” Rodrigues said, smiling.

The committee also cleared a related privacy bill (HB 7A) that adds caregivers to patients and doctors in a public records exemption covering personal identifying information in the state’s “Compassionate Use Registry.”

Also, in debate, Altman called the amendment “incredibly misleading (and) flawed from the beginning,” saying he isn’t convinced that there’s good scientific evidence showing marijuana’s medicinal benefit. 

Tallahassee physician Michael W. Forsthoefel, for example, wrote an October 2014 “My View” column for the Tallahassee Democrat, saying he “never would recommend marijuana to any of my patients.”

“With more than 400 chemical compounds at varying strengths, it is impossible to have standardization from one patient to the next, and any potential side effects or drug interactions could do far more harm than good,” he wrote.

Forsthoefel did say “there are compounds in the marijuana plant that can be helpful.”

As Altman put it Wednesday, “We are practicing medicine by petition and that is going to hurt a lot of people. People will suffer because of this (amendment) and I believe people will die.”

 

Jim Rosica

Jim Rosica is the Tallahassee-based Senior Editor for Florida Politics. He previously was the Tampa Tribune’s statehouse reporter. Before that, he covered three legislative sessions in Florida for The Associated Press. Jim graduated from law school in 2009 after spending nearly a decade covering courts for the Tallahassee Democrat, including reporting on the 2000 presidential recount. He can be reached at [email protected].


2 comments

  • Bill Monroe

    June 7, 2017 at 10:11 pm

    Cannabis and the Skin

    Cannabinoids work on the CB1 and CB2 endocannabinoid system, and the TRPV1 ion channels, which exist in the Peripheral Nervous System (PNS). The PNS are all the nerves outside of the cranium, brain stem, and spinal cord. The TRP channels are emerging as essential cellular switches that allow animals to respond to their environments.

    TRPV1 expression in the epidermis is via keratinocytes. I know…long word, but they exist in 90% of the skin cells. Cannabinoid receptors are present in human skin.

    Skin ailments such as Psoriasis is basically hyper activity of the keratinocyte cells, which leads to epidermal thickening. Here is the really great part…keratinocytes activity is suppressed with a reduction of pro inflammatory mediators via the use of cannabis oil on the skin.

    In addition, cannabis oil, as a dermal application, have anti-inflammatory and therapeutic effects. I use cannabis oil on burns, insect bites, rashes, jock itch, and other skin ailments.

    The aforementioned is an abbreviated science behind the use of cannabis oil as a skin application product.

    Science, unlocking the mysteries of cannabis.

  • Jodi Hart

    June 8, 2017 at 11:00 pm

    This doctor really needs some national educating on marijuana in other states that allow it. He is too dramatic and narrow minded. I dont do any type of drugs but i do believe this does help very ill patients. Get educated before making ignorant statements.

Comments are closed.


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