An often-cited affidavit written by Paul David Wolf for Renee Boje’s claim for convention refugee status (2) states; "In adults, the alveolar tissue of the lungs provides roughly a thousand square feet of potential absorptive surface area, comprised of approximately a half billion tiny air sacs known as alveoli, which are enveloped by an equally large capillary network.  These alveoli are non-ciliated, mucous-free, and composed of only a thin single cellular layer, enabling efficient absorption of cannabinoids directly into the blood-stream.  For this reason, the lungs provide an ideal entry point for the rapid, non-invasive introduction of cannabinoids into the body." Even though smoking cannabis cigarettes is widely accepted, the inhaling of burning plant material is just not appealing to some patients, but the need for a fast delivery method is. For that very reason the "vaporizer" has become synonymous within the herbal cannabis community just as "pulmonary drug delivery devices" have for the pharmaceutical industry.

According to the article PULMONARY DRUG DELIVERY: FROM DREAMS TO REALITY by Dhiraj Ajmani, MS - (3) "The research, products and technologies of the pulmonary drug delivery market is expected to grow from $2.98 billion in 2003 to $9.11 billion in 2009. ...research and development advances have been instrumental in offering pulmonary drug delivery systems as an alternative to injectable drug delivery. With advancing technology, the dream of utilizing the huge surface area of lungs to deliver drugs into the blood circulation has been slowly transforming into reality. Lungs are considered the Best Alternative for drugs needing to bypass the gastrointestinal tract, such as proteins. Physiological parameters of the lungs, such as pH, pave the way for systemic and local delivery of proteins, peptides, and small molecules as an alternative to injectable drugs, safely and efficiently."

The Pulmonary Drug Delivery market includes such medical devices as Metered Dose Inhalers (MDIs) - pressurized hand-held devices that use propellants for delivering medications to the lungs, and Dry Powder Inhalers (DPIs), which deliver the powder form of the medications directly to the lungs locally. This technology has also been used to develop systemic delivery of drugs. Liquid-Based Inhalers (LBIs) are expected to be introduced in the US market in 2006, and patient convenience is expected to spur the acceptance of LBIs in the coming years.

Vaporizer technology is advancing within the global pharmaceutical marketplace and vapor devices will be included in this list one day. One of the companies taking this concept forward is Vapore Inc (4), based out of Richmond, CA. They have designed the Capillary Force Vaporizer (CFV). It creates rapid vaporization of a thin liquid film by combining electrical resistance heating with capillary force in a high porosity ceramic device. The CFV in future years may be able to vaporize many active drug formulations, including prescription drugs, OTC medications, and self-care products.

However, the current vapor device technology used for herbal cannabis is for the most part still in the infancy stage. According to Steve Smith; "In the past five years a lot of people have jumped on the vaporizer band wagon. Some have a good design and work well; others are copies or 'knock-offs' of popular models. Anyone can hack something together in a basement workshop and call it a vaporizer." Steve feels regulatory practices and standards need to be addressed and Plasticsmith is working on its medical device certificate.

"Some devices, like the heat gun variety, could give off toxic particles," says Smith. In a Vaporizer article entitled; LOTS OF HOT AIR published in CannaBusiness Magazine 1/2004, this reservation was voiced: "... using a hot air gun as heat source is common with some low cost vaporizer types. This method, however, encounters serious health concerns, because the heating motor of standard hot air guns releases noxious particles." Smith goes on to say; "In other devices the heat causes zinc to flake off the bowl, or copper fittings to off-gas and disintegrate with use. Consumers need to know about these potentially dangerous devices. As the inventor of this idea I feel I have a responsibility to people who use them. No one should sell anything to someone whose health is compromised, unless they can prove it is not harmful."

We feel the same way. However, in order to allow for the research, development and regulation of this technology to advance it would require the prohibition of herbal cannabis to end. Funding and research for the development of delivery devices within the conventional marketplace for pharmaceuticalized cannabis products (i.e.; Sativex) have been obtained, yet funding and/or approvals for research and development of pulmonary drug delivery products for herbal cannabis, an "illegal drug", is still all but non existent. In fact it has been blocked, forcing organizations like MAPS/CaNORML and individuals like Prof. Craker and Valerie Corral to file lawsuits against the DEA and also against HHS/NIH/NIDA for obstructing medical marijuana research on vaporization. (July 21, 2004) Web retrieval March 28th, 2005 - http://www.maps.org/mmj/vaporizer.html

Until fair market research can be obtained our best advice is buyer beware - look for more information on this topic in future issues of Cannabis Health.

(1)[Tashkin et al, “Heavy Habitual Marijuana - Marijuana Smoking Does Not Cause an Accelerated Decline in FEV1 With Age,” American Journal of Respiratory

and Critical Care Medicine, 1997;155:141-148] (web retrieval March 26, 2005)

(2)http://www.netaxs.com/~sparky/policy/Affidavid3.htm

(3)http://www.drugdeliverytech.com/cgi-bin/articles.cgi?id Article=259

(4)Rodney E. Thompson, Ph.D.

http://www.vapore.com/documents/Drug%20Delivery%20Apps%20for%20CFVs.pdf "http://www.vapore.com/ "Plasticsmith Inc. - BC Vaporizer - http://bcvaporizer.com/index.html