Cannabis Consuming Best Practices

Hey folks! As the year continues to trudge valiantly onwards we here at Circa 1818 are discovering that many of our customers are graduating to different categories of cannabis, which leads to a slew of questions regarding the best ways to consume each of the varying forms that weed comes in. Is flower better in a joint, bong or should you invest in a vaporizer? Will oils effect me in the same way as edibles? What do you mean cannabis is twice as effective if taken as a suppository? These burning questions and more are the reason why this week I decided to write a blog post all about the best practices for consuming cannabis across every category, with a focus on how to achieve the best effect for your dollar. Onwards, to knowledge!

Inhaling Cannabis

Breathing in the sweet sticky icky is the most common and reliable method of consuming cannabis. Almost as soon as that thick, terpy smoke hits your lungs the cannabinoids groove their way into your bloodstream and start doing their thing. There are just a mess of different ways to imbibe cannabis through your lungs, with the most common method being the rolling and smoking of a good ol’ fashioned joint. While not as convenient as taking a hit from a giant glass bong, smoking a joint lets you enjoy the flavor of the strain that you’re consuming far more than a bong hit, which is why it’s a practice that will probably never fade out of popularity.In my humble opinion, the best way to consume cannabis flower through inhalation is through a dry herb vaporizer. These puppies come in a variety of shapes, sizes and price points but all of them share the common feature that they allow you to enjoy the full width and breadth of flavour/effect that your selected strain of ganja offers while protecting your pulmonary health.Flower isn’t the only cannabis category that can be consumed vis a vis inhalation; there are also concentrates in vapor form that have become an incredibly popular means of climbing the THC ladder to the stratosphere. For our purposes we’ll focus on concentrates that are packaged into 510 thread or disposable devices, though much of what I’ll say here applies to all forms of concentrate.  Most of these devices are filled with THC distillate which can be delicious and effective for users of all walks of life. That being said, in the opinion of pretty much everyone I know, the best products in this category are the live resins that allow you to experience not just the THC but all of the terpenes, flavonoids and cannabinoids that make cannabis great. Remember, If you have a battery that allows you to control your temperature, try to keep it on the low side of things for a live resin cartridge so that you don’t evaporate the terpenes before they get into your system! With a straight distillate cart, temperature is less of a factor, with higher temperatures producing bigger clouds of vapor and allowing you to get more of the good stuff into your system. Always remember to turn off your device when not in use to reduce the chance of clogs and leaks. Also try to keep any cartridges in a cool space and out of the sunlight to maintain the integrity and potency of your resin/distillate.I will also mention our little friend hashish, since it’s unique structure and potency make it a traditional favorite that requires a bit of extra attention. Consuming hash has always been the biggest hurdle to enjoying hash, with methods such as ‘bottle tokes’ and ‘hot knives’ being the standard for a while. Thankfully, as I mentioned in a prior blog, the modern era has a few different tools to help us enjoy hash without ruining our dinnerware. Hash globes are a huge thing now and many concentration pens/rigs have inserts or attachments for smoking the sticky brown icky. It’s a great time to get into hash!

Eating and Drinking

Eating cannabis as a means to absorb its beneficial properties is arguably just as old as smoking it. There’s tons of evidence of edible cannabis dating back thousands of years. Even cannabis beverages are old school, with concoctions like Bhang being a staple of Hindu religious festivals as far back as the history books go. Now, as far as best practices go for eating and or drinking cannabis, our go to advice is low and slow. Everyone has an “I was way too high” story or knows someone who does, and the culprit is almost universally an edible confection of some sort that leaves the person savagely stoned. So yeah, take your time and know your limits when it comes to edibles and beverages. If you don’t know your limits, start off with the tinniest amount you can before giving yourself a full two hours before taking more. It might be a bit of a pain to take the time to experiment but believe me it beats the heck out of being so high that you end up calling your nurse friend at 3 am asking if she can come check on you because you’re being intimidated by your cat.

Oils and Tinctures

Oils and tinctures have been a popular method of cannabis consumption that many folks have been dabbling in for a long time. Due to there being effectively no health-related downsides to consuming oils (aside from possibly some stomach discomfort for those of us with sensitive tum tums due to the carrier oil), they’re a fantastic method of getting as much or as little cannabis in your system as you’d like. Since many of them are meant to be absorbed through the fatty tissue under your tongue the onset of the effects are relatively quick, so unlike edibles you’ll know pretty soon if you’re where you want to be. Also, this is the best category in which to mention the cannabis suppositories. Yes they're a thing, yes, they're effective and no we don't currently have any in stock. Although if the demand is there we will certainly bring them in. So, let us know if you want some cannabis suppositories in your life Northumberland!

Topicals

Last but certainly not least come topicals. These are the creams and ointments that you can rub into your skin. As far as best practices go…. Go nuts! Unless it’s put into an open wound, a topical can’t get you high so you could literally bathe in the stuff without fear of effective reprisal. Cannabis topicals are effective for everything from aches and pains to helping with itchiness and irritation caused by a plethora of skin issues. Chronic pain is no joke and many people find relief through cannabis use. This is a category that's perfect for people who want to share in the benefits of this wonderful plant without experiencing any of the intoxicating effects of THC and other cannabinoids. And that about rounds out our list for best consumption practices for the different categories of cannabis products that you’ll find in just about any dispensary you hit. Always remember, if in doubt ask your budtender! A good budtender will be equipped with the knowledge to help you try something new with the confidence that you’ll be getting what you’re looking for. Stay frosty cool cats!