# Why does smoking marijuana work?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-smoking-marijuana-work/649014>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [February 1, 2013, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-smoking-marijuana-work/649014 "2013-02-01T06:27:09Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\
**Post date:** [February 1, 2013, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-smoking-marijuana-work/649014/1 "2013-02-01T06:27:09Z")

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Active component THC, which is not water soluble. But it is obviously absorbed in the lungs which are presumably devoid of fat. I think most other smoked or vaporized drugs are water soluble(cocaine, opium, heroin, nicotine?, methamphetamine).

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**Author:** ![Glazer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a88e57/32.png) [@Glazer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Glazer)\
**Post date:** [February 1, 2013, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-smoking-marijuana-work/649014/2 "2013-02-01T07:34:07Z")

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You have fats in your blood and your brain.

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**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\
**Post date:** [February 1, 2013, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-smoking-marijuana-work/649014/3 "2013-02-01T07:46:27Z")

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Nope. Most of the above, when smoked, are smoked in a form that volatilizes well, which is often less water soluble – cocaine is normally smoked as a free base, morphine (the active principal in opium) is sparingly soluble in water, methamphetamine free base is soluble in water but not as freely as the salts. Nicotine is quite polar, but still mixes OK with lipids.

And the lungs have a complex lipid chemistry all their own – they’re definitely moist, but there are also lipids and surfactants in there.

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**Author:** ![auntlohimein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/74df32/32.png) [@auntlohimein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/auntlohimein)\
**Post date:** [February 3, 2013, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-smoking-marijuana-work/649014/4 "2013-02-03T06:36:55Z")

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-teeny-tiny blood vessels jn lung sacs, thc and many other Active substances absorbed, blood to brain, locks on cannabinoid receptors and activates them giving a “high”- we have receptors for all kinds of cool stuff! opiate ones are also in your guts so high and constipation. Ron RN