« History | Methods of Ingestion | Know Your Herb » Smoking
Combustion is by
far the most common method if ingesting Cannabis for intoxication in the world.
Several methods are available the most popular of which are:
1.
Joints A hand or (less commonly)
machine-rolled cigarette with or without a filter. Some have elevated this to
an art form and in certain places you may even find joint rolling competitions. Harm Reduction Tip: For the cleanest joint possible, do not roll with papers or filters that
contain flavoured dyes, coloured dyes, fire retardants, asbestos or the glue
that contains it. Unbleached papers are also a must. Believe it or not rolling
papers do exist without all these harmful things, however one must shop
carefully and ask questions. Be vigilant!
2.
Pipes Any device that can hold your
ganja and allow you to inhale the fumes as it burns. Endless designs exist
ranging from artisan crafted coloured glass beauties to desperation inspired
aluminium pop cans. Harm Reduction Tip: Wood, metal and plastic pipes will all
give off harmful residue when heated so use glass pipes if you want nothing but
weed smoke. Regular cleaning will also preserve the tastiness of your tokes and
functionality of your pipe. Always use a screen when smoking from a pipe.
3.
Bongs Basically a pipe that contains
a water filtration chamber. Like normal pipes the design possibilities are only
limited by the imagination of the creator (and maybe physics). Harm
Reduction Tip: Again,
try and use only glass bongs for the cleanest smoke and clean the bong
regularly. When adding water keep in mind that while cold water is best at
cooling the smoke, warmer water will filter more tar and particles. A
double-chambered bong containing warm water and cold water or ice cubes is
ideal. Note: According
to the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), water
filtration does very little to remove harmful substances from cannabis smoke.
MAPS claims that at best the water will filter out only water-soluble gases and
may even remove more THC from your smoke than noxious tars (http://www.maps.org/mmj/Gieringer-vaporizer.pdf)!
4.
Vaporization A vaporizer is
a device that heats your cannabis to the temperature at which THC vaporizes and
becomes aerosol (around 185°C), but does not actually combust your herb. This
means that your lungs are spared from inhaling the many carcinogenic chemicals
produced from burning cannabis and your body is saved the stress of dealing
with hot smoke (smoking anything is bad for your lungs, heart and throat). A
MAPS study comparing vaporizers to joints and water bongs revealed that vapour
contained a very high percentage of cannabinoids and a low percentage of any
other compounds (see previous MAPS resource link). Since upwards of 33% of THC
and other cannabinoids are also destroyed during combustion the vaporizer seems
to be a much more efficient way to inhale. Harm Reduction Tip: Not all vaporizers are created
equal. They range from simple glass-jar covered hot plates to the vaunted (but
expensive) Volcano. Some have adjustable temperature settings but many do not.
As such, some vaporizers seem more prone to jumping over that threshold where
combustion begins, defeating the purpose of vaporization. Even if you’re using
a vaporizer that lacks a way to set the temperature you can help the process by
making sure your herb is finely ground, dry and evenly distributed along the
heat source.
Eating
Another popular
way of consuming cannabis is to eat it. The main advantage of this is that you
avoid the potential health risks of smoking. The main disadvantage is that it
is much harder to gauge dosage. The high takes longer to set in and lasts
longer as well since the THC must first be digested and passed through the
liver before it reaches the bloodstream. Usually the peak of the high is
reached within two hours and the effects can last for as long as eight hours.
THC is fat-soluble molecule so most people cook their herb (or dissolve their
hash) in some kind of oil or butter that can be added to food. Many have
reported that eating cannabis is much more akin to a hallucinogenic trip (like
mushrooms or LSD) than a leisurely joint. This may be disadvantageous depending
on your set and setting. Since it can take 45 minutes or even an hour before
effects are felt (depending of the level of stomach emptiness and a myriad of
other factors) a common mistake is thinking that the initial dose has had no
effect thus driving one to consume even more canna-food and overdosing. Harm
Reduction Tip: The number one rule for cooking with cannabis is dosage control. This means
knowing the strength of the cannabis you’re using and the ratio that will be in
your treats. If you think the cookie you just ate is too weak wait at least an
hour before consuming another, because you never know…
Tinctures
A tincture is a psychoactive liquid made by
soaking cannabis in high proof grain alcohol for a minimum of three weeks. The
resulting dark green liquid can be mixed with other beverages or consumed on
its own. A major benefit of this preparation is that the alcohol (the higher
the proof the better the results) will extract even the trace levels of THC
found in the stems, seeds and leaves of the plant. Tinctures should not be
confused with hash oil (a liquid extracted from cannabis using butane or other
chemicals).
Mixing
Some like to mix
their herb with tobacco for various reasons such as stretching out their ganja
stash or needing filler for a hash joint. If you do smoke with tobacco you will
of course be inhaling all of the harmful fumes of processed tobacco smoke, and
exposing yourself to all consequent health effects of smoking, including
nicotine addiction.
Mixing cannabis
with other drugs and alcohol will have an unpredictable effect, as cannabis can
be both a stimulant and a depressant as a well as a hallucinogen depending on
the user, dose and potency. A common negative side effect of mixing, especially
with alcohol, is the onset of nausea. Some cannabis users have also reported
that smoking pot can help take the edge off a particularly intense hallucinogenic
trip, but it must be remembered that this is user-specific and could easily
have the opposite effect in another person.
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