New to weed? Read this first
Marijuana is more popular than ever, with more states allowing medicinal and recreational use. There are now more new smokers than there have been in the past 50 years. More and more people are asking how do I smoke weed?
There are many ways to consume marijuana. You can smoke it, you can eat it, you can drink it, you can vape it, you can dab it, you can even smoke it out of an apple. The options seem endless. Indica or sativa, the countless number of strains, how do you choose what is right for you?
The first things you want to know are how to comply the laws of your state. If you are in a state where recreational marijuana or medical marijuana is legal, then grab your grinders because here we go.
Cannabis Grinder
To get started most stoners would agree you need a quality grinder, it is one of the most important accessories. Without a quality grinder you are going to waste a lot of weed. Look for something made of metal with sharp blades that will cut through buds with ease.
The weed should be broken up finely enough so that it becomes loose particles that will fit nicely into whatever smoking device you are using.
A good grinder needs a kief screen. This will separate the fine THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) crystals from the buds that grow on marijuana plants. Kief is much more potent than smoking marijuana and can be up to 70% THC and can make you much higher.
Joint
A joint is marijuana that has been rolled into a cigarette. It is probably the most popular method of smoking weed. There are many varieties from pre-rolled joints that you can purchase at a dispensary, to spliffs which are mixed with tobacco and hand rolled. Some may even group blunts into this category, which is weed that has been rolled into cigar paper.
Rolling a joint is a skill many cannabis enthusiasts take pride in. There are many methods to rolling a joint. Many prefer a pre-roll from a dispensary or buying pre-formed cones that can be filled with the flower of your choice.
Bowl
Smoking a bowl, is another term for smoking weed out of a hand-held pipe. It can be one of the best ways to smoke weed if you are looking to enjoy the flavor of your bud, without any flavors from papers or other mediums.
bowls can be made from just about anything. You can make them out of apples, wood, metal, ceramic, but the most popular by far is smoking out of a glass bowl. These can be easily purchased from a pipe shop or from a reliable internet retailer like Hemper.
Bowls allow you to know exactly how much weed you are smoking. This is great for a beginner or anybody who does not want to get too high by accident. The control smoking a bowl allows combined with the great terpene flavor profiles make this a favorite for many.
Bong
For people who want to get the job done. A bong is a water pipe, usually made from glass or acrylic materials. A bong allows for the weed to be filtered through water before being inhaled. Just remember to change the water frequently, or the flavor will go bad quickly.
Another benefit of a bong is the punch it delivers. A bong delivers more smoke, quicker than a bowl or a joint. This can cause a lot of people to cough intensely, so this would be recommended for people who have some experience.
When considering a bong there are a few great companies to consider that make their high-quality glass pieces in the US like Higher Standards.
Gravity Bong
In the subcategory worth mentioning on its own is the gravity bong. If a bong is a jet plane, a gravity bong is a rocket. Capable of delivering more smoke quicker than even a bong, this is not for the faint of heart.
A gravity bong works by using the fundamental principal of gravity pulling the smoke out of the bowl, and then it pushes the smoke out for you.
Companies like Stundenglass are showing that the days of using a two-liter bottle in a bucket of water are numbered. Their Gravity Hookah series is elegant and revolutionary in its function and design. With people like Seth Rogen using their products, stoner culture is taking notice.
Edibles
An edible is a food or drink that has been infused with cannabis. You can infuse different foods and drinks with cannabis in many forms to get you high. From candies and soft drinks to lotions or even sublingual strips to put on your tongue.
In the past the most common way to consume edibles would be to make weed butter and make some sort of baked good like brownies or cookies. Advances in concentrates over the past couple decades has allowed for an ever-widening array of products to be infused with weed.
It is important to know the dosage that works for you when it comes to edibles. Everybody has a slightly different tolerance to edibles even for regular stoners. It is recommended that you start low with something that has 2-5mg THC. Most regular edible consumers prefer something between 10-25mg, with some even higher.
It is possible to get too high from edibles. Getting locked into the couch and having some moderate anxiety is possible if you consume too much too quick. you should wait at least two hours after consuming edibles before deciding to eat more. Consuming alcohol with edibles can also be dangerous as the effects can exacerbate one another making you both drunker and higher.
Vaporizer
Vaporizers are electric smoking devices that require no lighter or fire, as they use electricity to heat up to a temperature where the different cannabinoids become a vapor that can be inhaled. They come in handheld portable options like the Pax or larger table-top varieties like the Volcano by Storz and Bickel.
Vaporizers are commonly thought to give you the best flavor compared to most other smoking options. The lower temperatures allow for different terpenes and flavors to be enjoyed. In a vape, the cannabis material is never combusted, so there is no smoke to cover up the natural flavors from your weed.
Other types of handheld vaporizers can be used for concentrates or shatter. Commonly referred to as a vape pen, dab pen or an oil pen. These can be a very efficient and discreet option. Dab pens often use cartridges filled with weed concentrates.
Dabs and Concentrates
A weed concentrate is much stronger than any type of weed grown today. Typically weed you find at the dispensary will range between 12-30% THC. Concentrates will often be between 80-97% THC which significantly changes the smoking experience.
Concentrates can be derived from weed in a lot of different ways. Concentrates like bubble hash can be made with a series of screens and dry ice. While things like live resin and live rosin are made from freshly cut weed giving them incredible depth of flavor.
Dabs are a popular option these days, which is what you call smoking a concentrate on its own dabbing rig. This can be useful for a concentrate like shatter. Dabbing requires a blowtorch to heat up the nail on the dab rig and a heat safe metal or crystal piece to hold the oil to the hot nail.
This is would only be recommended for somebody looking to get ridiculously stoned. A little goes a long way, since dabs and all concentrates are quite strong, and can cause long coughing fits.
Where to find cannabis?
It can be difficult to find the right product when you need it. It can be difficult to know what a dispensary will have and are often subject to whatever is available when you walk in. This can often lead to limited options and an unhappy customer experience.
Find the cannabis product you want, when you want it. Thousands of dispensary menus available anytime. Whether you are looking for an edible or a specific strain, find it all on CannMenus.