Whats the difference between THC and smoked marijuana?
THC presumably is the major active constituent of the smoked form. But they are different in many ways. The rate of absorption into the blood, and the duration or presence in the blood, is different than when you take (THC) orally. When you take it orally, only 5 or 10 percent of the dose actually winds up in your bloodstream. When you smoke it, a higher fraction gets into the bloodstream and gets in much quicker. It goes right into the blood directly from the lungs, in much the same way as, say, crack cocaine. That’s why the effect comes on much more rapidly. But aren’t there dozens or hundreds of compounds in smoked marijuana? Doesn’t that complicate the whole question of scientific testing? Exactly. There are a couple of hundred that are formed when it’s smoked. The heating and the burning generates new chemicals. You get carbon monoxide in the smoke, although there was no carbon monoxide in the marijuana. And, as I said, it’s possible to get a more intense and higher dose quicker b
