Can We Share Joints Again?
Its been more than a year since many of us last shared a bowl, joint, or bong. Rather than idly speculate while listening to Dark Side of the Moon, we asked several leading medical experts at UCSF whether fully vaccinated people can safely share cannabis with one another via their preferred method of toking. The ethos of cannabis culture is sharing, says Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, a UCSF professor of medicine and infectious disease specialist. So of course this is an important question.  Passing joints and sharing bowls does involve the transmission of saliva, and sitting in close quarters with another person for an extended period leads to the inevitable exchange of those invisible clouds of contagion that weve all come to know as respiratory droplets. But we swapped saliva, droplets  and the germs that they carry  for years before COVID-19 came along. As such, the doctors we spoke with said fully vaccinated cannabis smokers can indeed pass the Dutchie. Theres very little risk of sharing any of these bongs or devices, Chin-Hong tells us. If someone is vaccinated, and youre sharing with another vaccinated person, vaccinated people sharing with each other are generally safe.  It is important to remember, though, that level of safety only applies to individuals whom you are sure are indeed fully vaccinated. If people are fully vaccinated, and theyre really vaccinated, were not doing Boy Scouts honor, I dont see theres any much difference than kissing. says Dr. George Rutherford, UCSF Professor of Epidemiology. Be aware, though: There are vaccine skeptics in the cannabis community, as SF Weeklys Veronica Irwin reported in her May 27 cover story. And while 80 percent of San Francisco residents are vaccinated, that means another 20 percent are not. If youre holding the goods, you have every right to ask and confirm whether your fellow smokers are fully vaccinated. After all, you dont want to be a part of a super spreader session. If the unvaccinated folks come from multiple different households, theres a potential for two unvaccinated people to transmit COVID to each other, Chin-Hong tells us. The highest risk is obviously from unvaccinated people from multiple households sharing it amongst themselves.  There are other risk factors to take into account. Namely, whether one of your fellow smokers has what doctors call comorbidities, or other diseases or conditions that could exacerbate a bout with the novel coronavirus. In a post-COVID world, its important that we be up front about our other medical conditions. The only vaccinated folks to think about would be those who have compromised immune systems, Chin-Hong says. Theres more risk with them than with the general population, because were not really sure how protected they are yet. Its likely that theyre going to get some protection from the vaccine, but were not 100 percent sure.  We should also note that this advice applies only to the Bay Area. If our region truly attains herd immunity, its unlikely that exposures will lead to large outbreaks of COVID-19  at least not locally  as the virus wont have a chance to spread the way it can in communities with low vaccination or immunity rates. If youre in the Bay Area or San Francisco, chances are theres so little COVID right now that the chance of a transmission occurring is generally lower than before, according to Chin-Hong. We have not mentioned vaping for a reason: Its still a relatively new medium of cannabis delivery, and doctors are not yet confident how safe it is. Vaping in and of itself may be a risk factor for more severe disease, Rutherford cautions. Weve never really established that.  Finally, perhaps in an effort to appease the UCSF lawyers, Rutherford urges tokers to remember that COVID-19 isnt the only pathogen to be concerned about when circling up around a blunt. Theres a million other things that could be transferred by the respiratory route, Rutherford says. Everything from influenza to some of the summer viruses, like respiratory syncytial virus to tuberculosis, on and on and on. In the larger sense, its probably not a great idea to share respiratory secretions.  Joe Kukura is a contributing writer at SF Weekly. news@sfweekly.com