Smoking causes 83,000 deaths a year. If until twenty or thirty years ago we were not aware of the risks hidden behind a cigarette, today we are all aware that smoking is harmful. In fact, very badly. Quitting smoking is a duty , for yourself and for your loved ones. In Italy - despite 15 years of prohibition of smoke - the number of smokers does not decrease. In the last ten years, however, the quantity of cigarettes consumed per day has decreased: there are 11.6 million lovers of blondes, more than one in five Italians. There are 7.1 million men and 4.5 million women. Something has certainly moved, but it's not enough!
Fight against cigarette smoking
The fight against smoking is becoming increasingly fierce: for some years smoking has been prohibited near hospitals and schools, along the tracks, in restaurants or on the beach under an umbrella. These measures are created as deterrents and, for some, they work. However, there are convinced smokers, those who cannot imagine themselves without cigarettes and a lighter in their pocket, who - probably - will never stop. The problem, especially for this category of smokers, lies in rebuilding the routine from scratch. The an avid smoker lives in anticipation of the next cigarette , starting from the morning one to the last one before going to bed. The avid smoker smokes even if he wakes up in the middle of the night or when he has the flu.
For many smokers, however, it is not so much an addiction to tobacco, but to smoking gesture . Holding a cigarette between your fingers, for many of them, is relaxing, reassuring and pleasant. Often the cigarette is associated with a specific action , such as waiting for the subway or having a drink in company. These are the most difficult smokers to convince: they associate the act of smoking with anything and are disappointed to imagine the same thing without a cigarette between their fingers.
We met one of them, who told us his story. His name is Emanuele, he lives in Vercelli and is a bartender by profession. He also starts working very early in the morning, if he has the opening shift, but sleep and the five o'clock cold don't distract him from his obsession: the cigarette. We met him in his bar, when we were in Vercelli for the presentation of the documentary Lands of Cannabis . He told us a beautiful story about how cannabis helped him quit smoking, after a thousand unsuccessful attempts.
Quit smoking: which method to choose?
Until a few years ago, if you wanted to quit smoking you had three options: fill up on plasters , chew chewing gum like a teenager or say at all Goodbye to nicotine and start a new life. Many have managed to quit, but others - like Emanuele - have failed, above all because they have never managed to completely abandon the smoker's mentality . If every day you have to fight a war with an imaginary pack of cigarettes, you might as well start again. Today, however, if you feel like saying goodbye to tobacco without completely giving up the act of smoking, you can choose light cannabis to give yourself a moment's break during the day or to relax before going to bed.
Cannabis consumption can help alleviate nicotine addiction : tobacco is replaced with light marijuana and cigarettes are gradually abandoned. There's more: comparing the electronic cigarette with other nicotine replacement therapies, the former is decidedly more effective for quitting smoking. Anyone who has tried them knows: the gesture calms psychological dependence and the vapor gives the same satisfaction as smoking.
According to a study by the British Institute for Health and Cancer Research, those who use e-cigs achieve an abstinence rate of 18% . In contrast, subjects treated with different replacement therapies achieved an abstinence rate of approximately 9% . The liquid for CBD e-cigarettes is a great way to quit smoking, especially for those who smoke for a long time and can't say goodbye to blondes.
If, however, you want to say goodbye to tobacco smoking completely, you can choose the vaporizer , a tool that allows you to "smoke" marijuana without burning it, heating it to the boiling point of the cannabinoids.
Smoking or vaping: the differences
The combustion of cannabis is identical - in its methods - to that of tobacco, with which the substance is often mixed precisely so that it can burn better. And we know, smoking is bad for you. The recommended temperature for optimal cannabis intake is approximately 170° , but combustion reaches much higher peaks. This, in addition to generating carcinogenic substances that are absorbed by the body, literally sends much of the THC contained in the herb up in smoke.
THC, in fact, does not like temperatures above 157°, and in fact the quantity of active ingredient absorbed through combustion is never greater than 25%. When burned, cannabis molecules break down and give rise to so-called free radicals, which generate toxins that are very harmful to the body.
Targeted analyzes have shown that the smoke released by joints contains only one 10% of cannabinoids , while the remaining part is made up of combustible products, including the so-called PAH, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.
There Vaporization is certainly the best way , both to protect our health and to be sure to take in the greatest quantity of active ingredient possible. With vaporization you can control the temperature to which cannabis is subjected, with the result of saving a large part of cannabinoids and terpenes. THC boils at around 157°: usually you can take around 46% of the substance contained in vaporized weed. Contrary to the smoke released by the joint, the vapor contains about 90% of cannabinoids and only 10% of other substances, however less harmful than those generated by combustion at very high temperatures.
How can CBD help you quit smoking?
This particular usefulness of CBD is truly a rather recent discovery. The idea was first made public in 2013 in a preliminary study conducted by a group of researchers and published by the journal Addict Behav , in an article investigating the potential action of CBD consumption (via concentrated inhaler) for smokers wishing to limit their cigarette use. The study was indeed small in size and importance, but it suggested that the path was the right one, given that the tobacco consumption had dropped in the subjects subjected to the test in question by 40% .
Since then the Cannabidiol has been much studied and knowledge of this molecule and its reactions with the human body has increased considerably. In 2018, at the University College London , a more complete study was carried out, carried out thanks to a very different approach than usual. The goal of the study was to understand what happens to smokers trying to quit smoking when they use CBD.
English researchers have discovered that this substance, if taken in precise doses for a prolonged period, goes to limit neurocognitive processes which generate the desire for tobacco in the brain of addicted subjects. CBD therefore it would block the smoker's craving before it forms in our brain , thus preventing the smoker from perceiving the need.
This could be a real revolution in the world of fighting smoking: no more remedies to combat the urge to smoke, but a natural system to annihilate upstream.
Emanuele and cannabis light
Emanuele was tired of cigarettes. He couldn't stand having shortness of breath and yellowing nails any longer. His career in the world of smoking had begun 17 years earlier, when he was only fifteen, and now all those years weighed like rocks.
Emanuele smoked approximately 20 cigarettes a day , too many. He had tried everything to stop smoking: patches, chewing gum and pills of all kinds, supplements, acupuncture. No result. Every now and then he made a drastic decision: he threw the half-empty pack of cigarettes in the garbage and swore he would never buy one again. A day or two later he returned from the tobacconist, with a bit of shame and an infinite desire to smoke.
It is precisely during his umpteenth debacle that he comes across the light cannabis . He had returned from the tobacconist after 4 days of forced abstinence, tiring but extremely satisfying. By now he had decided, he couldn't take it anymore. He was fighting that battle with conviction, smoking in 2018 was for fools. But there was a problem to solve: every now and then he felt the need to smoke and – in those moments – the mere thought of a cigarette made his mouth water.
That CBD package in plain sight on the tobacconist's counter it seemed like a sign of destiny: he bought it, together with everything needed to smoke his new light marijuana. He tries it as soon as he gets home and feels the taste of freedom ; he was sure that this time he would succeed. And so it was. He resisted for a few months and then realized he would never go back. After six months he even switched to a vaporizer, saying goodbye to smoking forever! ù
A guide explains why it is so difficult to quit smoking:
