There are so many ways to consume the wonderful plant of marijuana. Weed use dates back to 3rd Millennium BC and since then we have added many more traditional ways of using the plant. One of the most common ways of smoking weed is in the form of a joint. It’s easily the cheapest way to do it and its small size makes it easy to tote and conceal. However, smoking a joint or blunt is extremely smelly and you have to have a very private place to smoke without being sold out by the strong odor. The smell can linger in a room for up to a couple days, depending on how much was smoked and if any ventilation occurred. Also, some women have canine-like senses of smell, so teenagers beware! Mom will smell it long before dad. When you use a joint you will waste some weed too, no matter how fast you smoke it. It literally burns constantly so that leaves little lingering time between hits. This makes you cough quite a bit because it’s so harsh which can make you get higher, but at what cost? You’ll always be left with a roach too. It’s very painful to smoke tiny roach butts as you are holding something burning in your fingers and putting it on your lips. Clearly, I’m a little biased to joints and I’m an avid smoker so some of my negative points will not necessarily be the case for you. The best way to smoke weed is all about personal convenience.
Speaking of lips, joints almost always get a little soggy on the mouth part because everyone has that one friend that slobbers. Ash is another factor of joints and blunts. As it is always burning it is also always making ash. You are pretty much guaranteed to get ash somewhere other than the ash tray-especially if you are sharing. The ash drop usually occurs during a pass. Joints can be very nice in states where MJ has not yet been legalized. In fact, in these places I strongly encourage smokers on the go to use only joints. If you are getting pulled over, eat the joint and avoid a lot of hassle and fines.
A pipe or bowl is what I would consider to be the second most common method of smoking herb. It’s pretty easy to conceal them. Most will easily fit in a pocket. They are usually very affordable and if you care for them well, they can last a while. It’s pretty easy to carry around but in states where marijuana is illegal, you won’t be able to hide the piece anywhere where the cops can’t find it. I was pulled over in Florida and with probable cause, “the smell of marijuana,” they searched my vehicle only to find an empty bowl. I was lucky that I was pulled over by an off duty cop who could only break my bowl on the sidewalk and let me go. In many other cases, especially when you are any color but white, that would not be the story. Bowls will also burn much longer than joints and can be hit once, put down and returned to hours later. Bowls can be great for those who don’t have a lot of extra money to spend on weed because they will collect the THC resin and when you’re broke and in need of weed, you can scrape the bowl and keep on smoking. It’s like the gift that keeps on giving. There is a point though where you have to remove the resin or the bowl becomes impossible to smoke out of. It does require regular maintenance for the best smoking experience. The two biggest negatives for smoking weed from a bowl for me are that the smoke is much harsher and because I smoke daily, I have to smoke several bowls to achieve a high. If you don’t smoke all the time and don’t need to transport it, the bowl might be perfect for you.
Bubblers are essentially just upgraded, larger bowls that use water as a filtration system. They are smaller than bongs but allow you to get a better, bigger hit than from a traditional pipe/bowl. My opinion of bubblers and zongs is just do yourself a favor and upgrade yourself to the next level. They are cool for occasional use and some look very artistic but for me the bong is where it’s at. You can even use an electric lighter or hemp wick to avoid inhaling butane.
Bongs are what I consider to be probably the third most commonly used method of smoking herb. They range in size but the average bong will allow you to take a huge rip. It’s a must have for an everyday smoker like myself. I can actually get high off one bong hit which is nearly impossible any other way, in my case. Bongs also range in price but in almost all cases, the more you spend, the better the bong will be. Specifically, multiple percolators and ash catchers can significantly improve the quality of every single hit. It can make hits that would have been disastrous to your lungs as easy as breathing in and out. It filters the smoke to make it a smooth and even experience while still allowing me to taste the sweet flavors of marijuana. Since I am an everyday smoker, it was worth it for me to spend the money to get a decent bong. The upkeep for a bong does suck quite a bit. Buildup begins after 1 hit and continues to build up until you have turd looking resin balls floating in your water and brown goo all over the interior of the bong. Cleaning a Bong can be a challenge. The resin either gets on your hands or the inside of the sink you cleaned it in. So then you have to use an alcohol and salt combination to clean your hands and sink. It really isn’t fun and you have to do it a lot. I recommend daily if you smoke out of it daily. Anything more advanced than a bong; I really have no idea where they would rank in popularity today so let’s just skip the part where I guess how commonly they are used.
Weed Vaporizers have been around for a while and are popular because they maximize the efficacy of the herb by utilizing every single trichome into a very smooth, smoke able vapor. For the desperate you can smoke the dehydrated herb after you’re done but in my experience you achieve little to no effect from this. For me, I dislike most the taste of burnt popcorn that lingers after a vape hit. Also, good vaporizers can be much more costly than the average person can just blow on the activity of weed smoking. You can get extremely baked though very quickly, easily and painlessly. I would like to own one in the near future for the sole purpose of alleviating the daily stress of smoke on my lungs. Vaporizers can eliminate up to 95% of carcinogens from the weed plant material.
There are even small, portable, dry-herb, vaporizers that allow you to vape on the go. It does require a battery and keeping it charged is really a chore for a pot head. More often than not, when I want to use my portable vaporizer, it’s dead. Packing it can be a little tedious as well because the “bowl” is much smaller than any other smoking device. I have lost a lot of ground up weed in the process. Maybe I’m just an uncoordinated pot head.
Now from this point on I will go over other ways to use marijuana besides just smoking.
Dabbing is probably one of the most popular ways to consume THC by now. Dabbing requires some equipment to get it done right. Dab rigs are similar to bongs that use dab nails to vaporize the marijuana concentrate. Dabbing nails can be made from titanium, quarts, and even ceramic. Most nails can be heat up with a butane dab torch and some are even electric nails that plug into the wall. Whatever gets your nail to the proper temperature, you will probably need wax containers to store your dabs.
Next is the oil pen which vaporizers a yellow resin chemically extracted from the plant. They look sleek and identical to most E-cigarettes. They are super easy to transport, conceal and most give off little to no smell so you can literally smoke next to granny and get away with it. It removes a lot of the negative stigma that people experience when using marijuana in the traditional sense. There are also pens that vaporize wax as well. Many pens now do both. I could not even begin to explain the processes of how they transform weed into wax and oil but that’s okay because all you need to know about pens is that they are super easy to use. You don’t have to understand how it got there or how it works- it just does. I personally only dislike it for the taste. I just love the taste of weed. Nothing beats it or comes close. But, if you need some herb on the go this is another great option because of its lack of smell and ability to conceal.
Tinctures are the method of extracting active cannabinoids from the plant using ethyl alcohol. I’ve never tried this method for a couple of reasons. I don’t like alcohol and it just sounds gross. It also removes the most fun part of weed- THC. I’ll pass for now but I do understand that it can be very beneficial for others. Same goes for topical CBD sprays and ointments. I have had weed drinks and teas though and they taste absolutely disgusting but you get ridiculously high very quickly and it lasts 6-8 hours. I like it because you can just shoot it back and feel the effects within 30 minutes. If you drink too much the affects you will feel will be sleep. 300mg of THC will put me out like a light and I smoke all day, every day.
Lastly, there are edibles. Edibles can taste terrible or taste heavenly; it all depends on what you buy and where you buy it. I have found that some homemade edibles can have a very strong weed taste which sounds good but it’s not. It can be a chore to finish a brownie if it’s not made correctly. The effects from edibles and pills can be great. It takes 60-90 minutes to feel the full affects and it can last all day. I’ve had one of the best days of my life on weed cookies.
Really, it comes down to personal preference and what your needs are for smoking/consuming marijuana. It’s really fun to just try new things and switch it up from time to time. I don’t use joints often but every once in a while it’s nice to just commune with weed in a different weed. Happy Smoking Y’all!
