Choosing the Right Cannabis Consumption Method for You

Smoking

The easiest and most common way to consume cannabis as it only requires little more than a vessel and a lighter. You can pack the ground cannabis into a pipe, roll it into a joint/blunt, or load it into a bong. Smoking cannabis involves inhaling the smoke released by the heated flowers or concentrate. When smoking cannabis, the effects can be felt almost instantly and last from 90 minutes to 3+ hours depending on the individual, cannabinoid content, and potency of the strain. Because of the minimal onset time associated with smoking cannabis, dosage control is easy relative to other consumption methods.

Vaporization

A vaporizer is a device that heats cannabis buds and/or concentrates to 315-440°F (157-227°C), which causes the cannabinoids stored in the plant’s trichomes to evaporate into a gas without combusting any plant material. The effects of vaporizing cannabis are felt almost instantly which makes dosage control easy.

Edibles and Ingestible Oils

Cannabis infused food and drink. The effects associated with ingested cannabis last much longer than the other consumption methods (anywhere from 4 to 8+ hours) and can be significantly more intense. The downside to edibles is the delayed onset time, which can take anywhere from 20 to 90+ minutes.

Cannabis Concentrates

Cannabis can be concentrated in basically any way shape or form. Cannabis concentrates, commonly referred to as cannabis extracts, are significantly more potent than your standard cannabis buds. It is an umbrella term that will pop up often when discussing marijuana intake methods, When made properly, a cannabis concentrate is reminiscent of the cannabis strain it was extracted from; the smell, taste, and effects are simply magnified due to a larger concentration by weight.

Dabbing is a new way of ingesting cannabis that involves highly concentrated preparations, known as dabs or butane hash oil (BHO). Dabs are usually smoked using a water pipe (bong) or vaporizer pen.

When using a water pipe, a blowtorch is used to preheat the heating surface, which is referred to as a “nail”. The nail is usually made of titanium or glass. After the nail is heated, the concentrate is “dabbed” on the surface, resulting in a vapor that can be inhaled. it’s actually a way of consuming marijuana extracts that provides a heavy dose of cannabinoids in a small package.

The process of dabbing involves using a device similar to a bong called a dab rig.
Using a hand-held torch, you heat up a piece called a nail until it’s red hot, then use a metal utensil called a dab tool to take a small amount of extract, dab it on the hot nail, and inhale. The extract should instantly vaporize and produce a strong and smooth hit. Compared to smoking, dabbing provides quicker and more efficient delivery of THC into the body.

Hash
Concentrated cannabis, and it comes in many forms depending on the extraction method used to get it from the plant stage to the concentrate stage.

Butane Hash Oil (BHO)
BHO is a popular concentrate. Consumed for dabbing and other vaporization methods. Perhaps the most common type of extract on the market, BHO has a variety of names (wax, shatter, crumble, oil, errl, honeycomb, moon rock, nectar, etc.) BHO generally tests between 60 percent and 90 percent THC, making it perhaps the strongest concentrate on the mainstream market.

Propane Hash Oil (PHO)
Cannabis processed with propane. Although others are possible, the consistency of PHO is typically budder. Budder is a type of hash oil that is similar to wax but softer and more pliable.

CO2
CO2 oil is the golden liquid used in almost every pre-filled vaporizer pen cartridge.

Shatter
shatter has a hard, smooth, glass-like consistency. shatter breaks so easily. Many prefer to dab shatter as it can be difficult to load into certain vaporizers, but that’s not to say you can’t vaporize it. concentrates with the shatter consistency can be converted to budder by simply whipping the concentrate on a hot plate. Shatter shards can be mixed with flower inside joints before rolling

Budder/Wax
Wax or budder refers to cannabis extracts with a creamy, buttery consistency. It is also called crumble or cake batter. The consistency is comparable to a soft wax and is more forgiving to work with than shatter. Budder can be vaped, dabbed, twaxed (inside the joint or blunt), smoked, or used in edibles. Great consistency for vaporizer pens.