The emergence of marijuana has led to many medical concerns concerning this drug. As it becomes more popular and relevant in modern society among teens a very popular question concerning this drug is “Does Smoking Weed Cause Acne?” In fact, weed and acne are widely debated.
Individuals are worried that the use of this medicinal drug may get the better of your skin! However, there is no need to worry. Not only do we answer this question, but we dive into the science behind it as well. At the end of the article, we’ll give away some great tips to reduce and get rid of your acne so you can enjoy the medicinal benefits of marijuana without sacrificing an acne-free face.
Does Smoking Weed Cause Acne? The Science
Before we dive right into the answer let’s understand some of the chemicals that get involved when smoking weed.
Weed is smoked because it has a chemical called tetrahydrocannabinol also called THC for short and it’s smoking this chemical that actually gives the high associated with smoking weed.
Dr. Ariel Ostad says that the THC from weed actually causes a 3-5% increase in testosterone for users of the drug.
Because acne can be caused due to hormones that THC help fluctuates, smoking marijuana can assist in causing pimples.
However, he says that alone isn’t enough to cause an increase in acne. If there are other minor hormonal that are occurring at the same time then it is easy to blame acne breakouts on smoking when in reality it is because of many different factors.
What may also be contributing to an acne breakout is the actual smoke. Like cigarette smoke, marijuana smoke can expose the skin to more chemicals and add impurities to the skin that could cause acne.
Smoke isn’t a huge factor in causing acne, but it certainly plays a role.
Luckily, there are ways to reduce the impact weed can have on your skin.
Limiting Exposure To Marijuana Smoke
As we mentioned before, the smoke from marijuana can have a negative impact on your acne levels – thus already answering the question, “Does smoking weed cause acne?” Now that we know this, pay close attention to these next couple of paragraphs to help reduce the effects marijuana smoke will have on your skin.
To reduce your exposure to the smoke Dr. Ostad recommends putting on a thick cream or lotion to prevent the chemicals from going directly on to your skin. However, he suggests using a vaporizer instead of smoking to get the benefits from marijuana.
This will eliminate the smoke entirely and is not only better for your acne, but for your lungs as well. Most importantly, you are still able to feel the effects of the medicinal drug.
While purchasing a vaporizer may be more expensive than other vehicles to get the THC into your body, your health is well worth it. We recommend Aromatherapy Diffuser by TitanOwl.
The Aromatherapy Diffuser is the best cost-efficient vaporizer. It’s only $49.99 which is about 20-30 dollars less than other vaporizers. While it isn’t a premium vaporizer, it is extremely easy to use.
Set the temperature to around 345 degrees F and wait a couple of minutes for it to warm up so it will get it to the perfect temperature. From there, add some marijuana, and inhale the vapor that it produces.
The best part is you don’t need to hold the piece yourself as the diffuser has a slot for it.
However, if using a marijuana vaporizer isn’t for you there is another way to avoid smoke, but still enjoy the benefits of marijuana.
Another alternative to getting the benefits of marijuana without smoking is indulging in edibles – food products made with THC that are meant to be eaten to get high. Probably the most famous type of edible is the brownie.
However, edibles don’t normally taste that good leaving an earthy, dirty-like taste in your mouth after consumption. They never taste as good as the food they are modeled after.
While the taste of edibles is constantly improving you should still wait until there is a standardized process before indulging in them regularly. This is because edibles often have a large variation in the concentration of THC, making overdosing on THC very easy.
Wait a couple of years before making edibles your go-to method of marijuana consumption so that the quality can improve and get standardized.
The Conclusion
So does smoking weed cause acne? Ultimately, yes. The reasons are not 100% known, but there is significant evidence that implies that smoking weed directly causes and increases acne. Remember, there are two ways to combat this.
1) Use proper skincare health products to reduce the smoke and dirt’s effect on your pores
and
2) Try using a vaporizer so you can still experience the medicinal benefits without being affected by the smoke.