Find out more about Herbal Vaporizers

So, after mentioning them briefly in a previous post, I thought I’d take the time to go ahead and offer a full review, and a few tips for using the Ubie vaporizer.  First off, let’s review.

The primary question is whether or not the utility of the Ubie vaporizer justifies its cost. If you get them from the manufacturer, you can get them for $15 a piece, or even lower if you’re willing to purchase multiples.  So, the cost factor is very friendly. Friendlier even than most traditional smoke generating pieces. In short, yes, the Ubie is worth $15.

But how well do they work?

Well, they can be a bit tricky, but after some experimentation, Healthy and I were able to get them working pretty darn nicely. They’re pretty easy to load.

You put the herbal blend in the longer, larger tube,

then put the smaller one in place behind it

Its true, over heating, and thus burning is possible.  This can be a very unpleasant experience as vaped herbal blend is most foul tasting when burnt. However, with a little practice and know how, the Ubie is an easy to use, low cost entry level vaporizer for people wanting to make the switch to smokeless toking but do not have the $250 – $500 required for a nice high end model.  In short, neither I, nor Healthy, have any objections to this device and recommend it, especially to people wanting to get into vaporizing without making a huge financial commitment in the process.

So, with that said.  Some tips for using your Ubie.

1)  Do NOT let the flame touch the Ubie.  This is a fast way to a lung full of smoke, which defeats the purpose.

A few centimeters away is plenty close to do the trick

2) Break that shit up!  No, really, break it up very finely.  I know this was kind of hard for me, as I have an ingrained desire to try to not break up my sticky herbal blend so it burns nice and slow… but when you’re goal is vaporizing it, the smaller the better.  Got a grinder?  Use it.

Healthy says you need to break your “tobacco” up even more than this

3) Point it up.  It may look, or even feel, a little wrong… (At times I find myself flicking the Ubie I’m using to better pack the herbal blend I’m vaporizing and feel like I’m some junkie flicking his needle) but don’t be afraid to elevate the far end of the Ubie, you want to keep the herbal blend compacted as best you can.  Besides, it’s the perfect opportunity to break out the Penguin impersonation you’ve been saving up to impress your friends.  Ladies, this is your chance to BE Holly Golightly.  Live it up.

Modified to protect the not so innocent Bruco

4) Breath slowly.  You’ll want to inhale slowly as this will allow the hot air to vaporize more of the active ingredients and thus you’ll be getting bigger vape hits.  You’re going to have to accept that the first few hits might be small, and you probably will have to take away your heat source before you’ve filled your lungs to capacity (especially you, Michael Phelps) but you can get sizable puffs.  They do work.  Oh yea, and did I mention they taste delicious.  Seriously.  Mmmmm.

5) Warm your Ubie up.  Don’t expect, or even try, to get vape on your first inhalation.  Just flick the lighter on, inhale slowly a few seconds, and flick it off.  If you want, you can keep inhaling and flick it again briefly.  The point is, you want to warm the weed up so you’re basically getting vapor action as long as the heat’s supplied.  A few short pulls just to get it closer to the magic 400 degree mark isn’t wasting time when you can then flick the lighter 2 seconds and pull a nice puff of vapor quickly and easily in.

If you follow these tips, and get a little practice with your technique, you’ll soon find your self quite stoned with out the harmful smoke.  Is it a nice air blowing electric heated thermostat controlled $250+ top of the line vaporizer?  No.  Is it functional?  You bet.  And while, I wouldn’t recommend putting anything on top of your Ubie, it’s tough enough for the occasional gravity induced trip to the CARPETED floor. For those of you still sitting on the fence, this is it, your entry ticket to the wonderland of vapor.

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Professor David Nutt speaks out against the UK governments recent upgrade of cannabis to a class B drug. Professor Nutt who is a member of the advisory council on the misuse of drugs (ACMD).

The recent upgrade is tied closely to claims that men who take cannabis regularly have a one in 5000 chance of developing a disease like schizophrenia, according to one of the top drug specialists in the UK.

Professor Nutt has a different opinion on the matter stating that “risk to mental health from smoking cannabis is no greater than getting drunk”.

From the article

“We’ve written three reports and read every paper published for the last 30 years. We do not believe the risks are going up,” he said.

“When we look at the evidence, we have seen a huge increase in the use of cannabis but a fall in schizophrenia.”

“Alcohol is probably more likely to cause dependence than cannabis.

“It causes brain damage through vitamin deficiency and withdrawal can lead to psychosis. Overall the mental health risks of alcohol and cannabis are not dissimilar.”

Schizophrenia is a mental health disease. Symptoms have been know to include hallucinations both auditory and visual, scattered thought patterns, unusual behavior, and delusional thinking.

Continue reading Professor Nutt’s interview with NewsBeat here

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