Cannabis Vape Pens Are Safer Than Joints, California NORML Study Finds

LOS ANGELES – California NORML has released results from what it calls a first-of-its-kind pilot study comparing the emissions of licensed Cannabis vape pens against pre-roll joints, and the difference, by nearly every chemical measure tested, was not close.

The study, conducted by NN Analytics with input from MayThe5th, used a puffing machine to collect equal air samples from two commercially available vape devices [one disposable, one reusable cartridge] alongside a standard pre-roll joint purchased from a licensed San Diego dispensary. Researchers then tested the emissions for cannabinoids and a dozen key toxic compounds via mass spectrometry.

The vape pens outperformed the joint on almost every marker.

Most significantly, both devices completely eliminated benzene and acrolein [two highly noxious combustion byproducts] which appeared in the joint at levels above EPA safe daily exposure thresholds. Most other toxins tested were reduced by a factor of ten or more in the vape samples. The one area where vapes showed elevated readings: heavy metals and formaldehyde, which the study’s authors flagged as warranting further investigation, particularly with regard to metal-component cartridges.

“The dangers of vapes have been misrepresented by anti-smoking advocates to suggest their emissions are as hazardous as smoke,” said Cal NORML director Dale Gieringer. “They are not.”

The science behind the difference is straightforward. Vaporizers heat Cannabis concentrates below the combustion threshold – the point at which burning plant material produces the toxic smoke compounds responsible for most inhalation-related health risks. Joints, by contrast, require combustion, which generates carcinogens regardless of what is being burned.

The timing of the new findings intersects with a pronounced shift in the California market. Vape products first overtook flower as the state’s top-selling Cannabis category in June 2025 and have held that position since. By December 2025, monthly vape revenues reached $124.4 million against $107.6 million for flower – a reversal from 2021, when flower outsold vaporizers by nearly two to one.

Generation Z is the primary engine of that change. Data from Headset shows that Gen Z consumers directed 45.7% of their Cannabis spending toward vapor pens in 2025, compared to just 22.9% on flower, a near-inversion of the preferences held by older demographics. Despite overall California Cannabis sales contracting by 5.2% year-over-year, vape revenues grew 0.6%, underlining the category’s resilience.

Yet almost all published research on inhaled Cannabis has concentrated on smoking, not vaping – a gap that Cal NORML and its study partners say is untenable given the category’s scale. Federal regulations have historically prevented labs with federal permits or funding from testing state-licensed concentrated Cannabis products, effectively quarantining them from the scientific process. The Cal NORML team worked around those restrictions by engaging a private laboratory not dependent on federal authorization.

The study’s sponsors are calling on public health agencies and industry stakeholders to expand research into vape products that are now consumed daily by millions of legal-market customers. Gieringer also pointed to the federal Cannabis rescheduling order as a potential opening: if it enables state-licensed medical Cannabis products to qualify for federally sanctioned research, the data gap could begin to close. For now, the study stands as the most direct emissions comparison available, and as a data point that the legal vape industry, regulators, and consumers will likely be citing for some time.