【英语语言学习】电子烟

 SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

Vape pens look just like e-cigarettes, but they're for vaporizing marijuana. They're smoke-free and very popular among marijuana users. But it can be hard to know just how strong a dose they're getting. Reporter Miles Bryan explains.

MILES BRYAN, BYLINE¹: It's a hot, windy afternoon outside the 420 Treehouse Medical Marijuana Lounge in Los Angeles. And Aggie² Karmelita and Cesar Perez are getting stoned. The vape pen that Karmelita and Perez are sharing doesn't seem like something you would use to get high. It's sleek³ and black, and looks more at home in an Apple Store than a head shop. Karmelita says that's kind of the point.

AGGIE KARMELITA: You know, it's convenient for something to take to, like, a movie theater, or a concert - where you're not necessarily supposed to be smoking a joint⁴ or having a pipe.

BRYAN: On the website Leafly, the Yelp⁵ of the pot world, one out of three reviews are about vaping marijuana. And while vape pens are discreet⁶, they can also be strong, like, really strong. Here's Perez.

CESAR PEREZ: I tried it about four years ago, and it was life-changing.

BRYAN: Vape pens are usually loaded with hash oil, which can have many times more of the psychoactive chemical THC than the average joint. A battery-powered heating element vaporizes the oil, which is then inhaled⁷. Perez says he first tried hash oil with a friend who worked at a pot dispensary.

PEREZ: She was like, hey, come here. You want to try some concentrates? I'm like, yeah. After taking the hit, I felt like I smoked 20 joints⁸.

JOHN LOVELL: Hash oil is correctly referred to as the crack cocaine⁹ of marijuana.

BRYAN: That's John Lovell. He's the spokesperson for the California Narcotic¹⁰ Officers Association, which is supporting a bill here in the Golden State that would ban medical hash oil. Lovell says that the stealthiness of vape pens can be dangerous.

LOVELL: All you see is someone smoking on an e-cigarette. You can put yourself at risk.

BRYAN: But not everyone is convinced that a future of vaping marijuana is such a bad thing.

MARK KLEIMAN: If we're going to deliver cannabis by lung, it's going to be vaporization, not smoking.

BRYAN: Mark Kleiman teaches marijuana policy and law at UCLA. He says that vaping will probably replace smoking marijuana in the long run. But Kleiman says that right now, there's a problem.

KLEIMAN: A puff¹¹ of cannabis is not standard the way a drink is standard, right? If you've had three beers, you know how much beer - alcohol you've had. If you've had three hits, you don't know anything about how much cannabis you've had.

BRYAN: Which means, Kleiman says, you might get more stoned than you want to be. Back outside the 420 Treehouse Lounge, Perez and Karmelita say that whether it's alcohol or marijuana, it's really just about knowing your tolerance¹².

PEREZ: Some people just go all out and take 50 shots, you know.

KARMELITA: Yeah.

PEREZ: And then, some people take one or two shots, and then that's how they learn. Some people take one or two hits, and some people just smoke the whole pen, you know.

BRYAN: But vaping might not always require such trial and error. Colorado and Washington will both soon require the testing and labeling for potency¹³ of all marijuana products. For NPR News, I'm Miles Bryan.

1 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

2 aggie   

n.农校，农科大学生

参考例句：

• Maybe I will buy a Aggie ring next year when I have money.也许明年等我有了钱，我也会订一枚毕业生戒指吧。
• The Aggie replied,"sir,I believe that would be giddy-up."这个大学生慢条斯理的说，“先生，我相信是昏死过去。”

3 sleek   

adj.光滑的，井然有序的；v.使光滑，梳拢

参考例句：

• Women preferred sleek,shiny hair with little decoration.女士们更喜欢略加修饰的光滑闪亮型秀发。
• The horse's coat was sleek and glossy.这匹马全身润泽有光。

4 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

5 yelp   

vi.狗吠

参考例句：

• The dog gave a yelp of pain.狗疼得叫了一声。
• The puppy a yelp when John stepped on her tail.当约翰踩到小狗的尾巴，小狗发出尖叫。

6 discreet   

adj.(言行)谨慎的；慎重的；有判断力的

参考例句：

• He is very discreet in giving his opinions.发表意见他十分慎重。
• It wasn't discreet of you to ring me up at the office.你打电话到我办公室真是太鲁莽了。

7 inhaled   

v.吸入( inhale的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. 她合上双眼，深深吸了一口气。
• Janet inhaled sharply when she saw him. 珍妮特看到他时猛地吸了口气。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 joints   

接头( joint的名词复数 )； 关节； 公共场所（尤指价格低廉的饮食和娱乐场所） （非正式）； 一块烤肉 （英式英语）

参考例句：

• Expansion joints of various kinds are fitted on gas mains. 各种各样的伸缩接头被安装在煤气的总管道上了。
• Expansion joints of various kinds are fitted on steam pipes. 各种各样的伸缩接头被安装在蒸气管道上了。

9 cocaine   

n.可卡因，古柯碱（用作局部麻醉剂）

参考例句：

• That young man is a cocaine addict.那个年轻人吸食可卡因成瘾。
• Don't have cocaine abusively.不可滥服古柯碱。

10 narcotic   

n.麻醉药，镇静剂；adj.麻醉的，催眠的

参考例句：

• Opium is classed under the head of narcotic.鸦片是归入麻醉剂一类的东西。
• No medical worker is allowed to prescribe any narcotic drug for herself.医务人员不得为自己开处方使用麻醉药品。

11 puff   

n.一口(气)；一阵(风)；v.喷气，喘气

参考例句：

• He took a puff at his cigarette.他吸了一口香烟。
• They tried their best to puff the book they published.他们尽力吹捧他们出版的书。

12 tolerance   

n.宽容；容忍，忍受；耐药力；公差

参考例句：

• Tolerance is one of his strengths.宽容是他的一个优点。
• Human beings have limited tolerance of noise.人类对噪音的忍耐力有限。

13 potency   

n. 效力，潜能

参考例句：

• Alcohol increases the drug's potency.酒精能增加这种毒品的效力。
• Sunscreen can lose its potency if left over winter in the bathroom cabinet.如果把防晒霜在盥洗室的壁橱里放一个冬天，就有可能失效。