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The Beginners Guide to smoking a joint
Smoking is a great way to begin experimenting with Cannabis.
Why smoke? Smoking isn’t the most efficient uptake of cannabinoids but it is the consumption method that has the quickest uptake…meaning you will feel it as soon as you consume it. It also has the shortest window of activity in that a “high” doesn’t last longer than an hour in general. This is good because if you are not enjoying the experience you won’t have to wait long until it passes.
A good rule of thumb is to “go low and go slow’. We’ve all heard this but what does it mean?
If The Village Bloomery wrote the beginners guide to smoking a joint it would go a little something like this: NOTE the Indica, Sativa and Hybrid thing is a mess. It really isn’t a thing but for the sake of ease we’re using the terms. That’s a blog that is coming up soon!
- Look for pre rolled joints. This will allow you to focus simply on the physical experience.
- Try to find pre rolled examples of pure CBD flower such as the Tantalus Labs Cannatonic, a classic heavy “Indica” the Simply Bare Organics Sweet Bubba is a nice example, a tried and true “Sativa” like the Weathered Island Texada Coastal and a 50/50 ish “Hybrid” > you may have to work with a bloom-tender to find good examples but we dig the Backwoods BC Juicy Fruit under the BC Black brand)
- Once you have your collection of flowers you will want to ensure that your “set and setting” are comfortable. “Set” as in where physically will you be that allows you to smoke, pay attention to your experience and respond to said experience authentically. “Setting” as in do you feel aware of what is going on in your space and in your head at the moment? There aren’t any feelings that you shouldn’t have but you should be aware of those feelings as they will impact your experience. If you are nervous you may increase your feelings of nervousness. If you are sad you may feel more sad. You may be jolted out of feeling tired and that could be uncomfortable. You need to be in a space where it is ok to feel, pay attention and respond.
- Grab a method of tracing your feelings. This could be a pen and paper, a notes function on your phone or a voice recorder.
- Have water close by, some blankets and maybe a healthy snack at hand.
- Now you are ready to begin your journey.
- Start with your CBD joint. Give it a smell and a dry pull by drawing on it without lighting. Notice how it tastes and make note of any thoughts that come up. Do you like the smell and taste of it in its dry state?
- Light it up and take one inhalation and then put it out. Sit with that feeling for at least 15 minutes.
- Take note. Did you cough? How did it taste? What did you feel if anything? Did you feel interested in trying more? If that answer is no. Don’t. Put it away and wait until the next time you feel curious.
- The next time you feel drawn go to this flower try 3 inhalations and see what that feels like. Pay attention to all the feelings. 3 -5 puffs/pulls on a joint is a common “serving” of inhaled cannabis.
- As you did the first time around, take note of all the feelings good, bad or nonexistent. It all matters.
- Go through this process with each of the flowers you selected and determine for yourself what feelings you were most interested in and spend some time learning about how you curate your experiences with them moving forward.
As you spend time with each flower you will be able to map out your authentic relationship with the plant. It is possible that the Indica made you want to clean your house. It is also possible to want to go straight to sleep after smoking a sativa. It is possible to have different experiences with the same flower based on how you were feeling before you smoked the joint (Set and Setting). All things are possible and until you land on “your flowers” you may decide that Cannabis isn’t all that important to you. But if you are inclined to keep exploring you may just land on a handful of flowers who give exactly what you want in exactly the way you want it and it is a beautiful thing.
For the Village Bloomery crew it is about building a relationship with the flower and that often fosters a desire to go deeper. You may discover that you want to know how she came to be. Where did her genetics come from? How was she grown and cured? What does the plant look like when it is growing? Who is growing her and what drives them? What do the flower buds look like when they are cured? How does she grind? Through this learning you will be better able to find other flowers that have similar outcomes for you.
You may even decide to look at other consumption methods to see if you can come close to the effect with a longer window of activity.