The Methods to the Madness

That first time that you enter a dispensary can be an incredibly overwhelming experience. Between the diversity of products, the terminology, the equipment and so much more, it can make you feel all the more like you should try marijuana.

But starting for the first time can and should be very easy. Like anything interesting, it gets more nuanced as you go along, but for most people, a simple solution works just we well as anything.

We are going to cover a few of the simple ways to dip your toe into the world of cannabis by starting with the basics methods to consume; smoking, eating, and vaping. Each method has its benefits and drawbacks based on where you are, how fast the effects can be felt, and how long the effects last.

Smoking

When smoking cannabis, you are usually not smoking the leaves but are smoking the flower that takes the shape of a bud. There are as many euphemisms and nicknames for this as there are people who consume, but we are going to refer to it as "flower."

The most well-known way to smoke flower is rolled up in a cigarette often called a joint. You can roll this yourself, but it’s very common to buy "pre-rolls" at the dispensary. These are just pre-rolled joints that come in different sizes usually measured in grams. For many new consumers, half a gram is plenty.

Smoking a joint is a lot like smoking tobacco. You light the joint and inhale the smoke into your lungs, let it sit for a few seconds and then slowly exhale. One major difference is that joints tend not to stay lit and oftentimes you have to re-light it each time you take a hit.

Personally, I prefer a glass pipe when smoking flower. These are available at most dispensaries and are inexpensive ranging between $5 and $30 for a nicer one. They hold a smaller amount than a joint and can be used for a less intense session. For the budget conscious, it also provides less waste, so flower can last a little longer.

In its smallest quantity, flower is sold by the gram...then for some strange reason switches to imperial measurements where you purchase it in fractions of an ounce. A 1/8th ounce also called an eighth (hence Eighthnote 🙂 ), is usually enough for a handful of individual sessions.

Smoking has its drawbacks. You have to be somewhere convenient to smoke, and the smell can be very distinguishable. You are also inhaling smoke, which can be hard on the lungs, particularly for those not used to it.

I personally enjoy smoking flower for the pretty immediate effect that I feel. For me, it usually lasts a couple of hours and then tapers off smoothly. The specific effects are different based on your own physiology and the specific cultivar, or strain, that you are consuming.

Edibles

Most first-time consumers prefer (or think they prefer) the simple and easily the most discreet form of consuming cannabis, edibles. Edibles are typically made by integrating concentrated cannabis oil into a product that you consume orally. Gummies, chocolate bars, hard candies, honey sticks, brownies, cookies, pills, drinks...butter. You name it there are infused edibles.

Most states have a cap on the quantity of THC that can be included in a recreational cannabis product at 100mg broken into individual pieces that usually sit around 5 or 10mg. For a first-time consumer, a 10mg serving will be VERY strong.

As we have been doing research for Eighthnote, we have heard countless stories of people who thought they would give cannabis a try and ate a full bar of chocolate or a sleeve of cookies and had a terrible experience and swore never to try it again.

Edibles take between thirty minutes to an hour to take effect while your body digests and processes the THC, at which point the effects can be very strong and can last a long time. Edibles may seem simple, but for many new users, it's too much too quickly. That said, they are a great way to have a long-lasting high that feels pretty consistent, but it's not uncommon for me to take something in the evening and still feel it a bit in the morning.

Vaporizers

A lot of newer users express hesitancy about vapes. Usually, it is because of the confusion with nicotine vapes and e-cigarettes that they are more familiar. Cannabis vaporizers are, however, an entirely different product. Cannabis vape cartridges typically use a pure oil extract (maybe with an additive that makes it more shelf stable to keep it from crystalizing) but usually contain little else. The oil often comes in a cartridge and you use a battery that heats an element to a very high temp to vaporize the oil which is then inhaled. The cartridges typically come in 500mg and 1g quantities. A pen battery is usually pretty inexpensive and is discreet.

The benefit of vape oil is that its effects are generally felt almost immediately, and you can regulate how much or little you want. The smoke is technically a vapor and has a mild aroma that is FAR less intrusive than flower smoke and dissipates almost immediately. Many people I know don't mind using it indoors. It's also less harsh on the lungs than smoking flower. That said, you are inhaling a foreign substance that any doctor will tell you is more problematic than consuming orally. All that said, for convenience, price, and general control, I find this to be the best method for new users.

These are only a handful of the different variants that cannabis comes in, and regardless of what you choose, we recommend paying close attention to your intent whenever you are trying something new. Some methods hit faster and stronger than others, and the last thing you want is to have a bad experience because you were ill-prepared. Hopefully, this provides some insight to make that first foray into the wide world of weed a little easier.