Cannabis is regularly praised for its medicinal properties, but also for its versatility. Not only are there over a dozen ways to consume weed in general, but smoking weed alone can be done in a number of different ways.
Whether you are smoking through a blunt, bong or a pipe, the list goes on for how you can get your fix to suit both your preference and your budget.
Which way is the best?
In terms of ease, effectiveness and cleanliness, smoking a joint or pre-roll is probably your go-to. At the same time, fashioning a makeshift bong or pipe can be done with a simple craft project made from stuff laying around the house right now (The best part? You won’t be graded).
In the end, it all comes down to how you like to smoke: Do you like the cooling effect of a bong? The subtlety of a vape pen? Or the simplicity of just smoking a joint?
Whatever the case may be, there is bound to be a way to smoke that suits you.
Joints
The timeless classic: recommended by doctors, budtenders, rappers and college roommates across the country. This can be just as easy as a quick trip to the dispensary, picking up some pre-rolls of your favorite strain and calling it a day.
But say you are in a pinch (like your favorite pre-roll is sold out), you can also learn how to roll up your own joints at home following these simple steps after crushing up your flower.
Actually, this is the healthiest way to smoke weed as it is the least likely to welcome unwanted particles to your mouth and lungs, due to rolling papers being made with organic ingredients. Joints may still involve inhaling smoke, but this method does so in the cleanest way possible.
So with that, along with joints being inexpensive and easy to buy, use and make, they remain the undefeated choice for ‘experienced’ users and newcomers.
Hookah
Stepping into uncharted territory, the method of smoking weed obviously does not stop at joints. With the rise in popularity of hookah lounges, though you are probably unable to go to a lounge with weed, one might be wondering if it is also a way to get high, and that is a resounding ‘Yes’.
What makes regular hookah so popular is that it is a flavored tobacco: usually a fruity, citrus flavor but could also taste like candy, vanilla, honey or just regular menthol. Unfortunately, an hour session has been shown to have the same effect on your lungs as 36 cigarettes.
To avoid this, we turn to swapping out the tobacco for weed, which works the exact same way: Charcoal creates heat for your flower strain, passes through a water chamber for smoke to be inhaled through a tube.
Picture an upright bong that heats through charcoal instead of a lighter. It can be fun with multiple tubes connected, a group can smoke without having to pass it around each time.
Consumption lounges are, however, coming to Nevada soon enough, but you can easily do this from the comfort of your home until then. Lastly, always clean your equipment before each use, you do not want to breathe in dirty, unwanted tobacco or any other toxins when you smoke.
Blunts
Just like a joint, blunts have been around forever and they are just as easy to roll, maybe even easier: Rolling a blunt only involves hollowing out a cigar to fill it with weed. While not the craftiest way to get high, it is by far among the easiest next to smoking a joint.
But like hookah, you do not want your cigar too ‘dirty’ with stuff you do not wanna breathe into your lungs: Rolling your blunt from a hollowed out cigar, if it is not done well, always has the risk of smoking and breathing the remains of tobacco, nicotine and their other toxins.
It may be an easy process as opposed to completely rolling from scratch, but always make sure there is not too much of the stuff you don’t want in your weed.
Pipes
Stepping into the territory of ‘craft projects,’ smoking from a pipe is just as simple as lighting up your flower at the end of a bowl and inhaling through a mouthpiece, and making one at home can be done in a couple steps that are just as easy and super inexpensive.
It is because of this smoking pipes is such a highly sought after method of consumption for vets and newcomers to cannabis.
Where pipes actually have an edge over blunts or joints, is that you can just clean or reuse your pipes (or make a new one scratch) time after time as opposed to a one off-method like the former. Granted, some homemade pipes are one-off but the classic ones made from glass or ceramic will last many smoke sessions with proper care.
Bongs
Last but not at all least, there is always a way to do a bong rip (literally, homemade bongs are easy to make, as well). Another classic consumption method, method easy enough for anyone to pick up and make at home quickly with nothing more than a couple things that are usually lying around the house.
To visualize, picture a long pipe with a second chamber or ‘bowl’ for water that helps cool the smoke before you inhale. When the smoke is cooled, bongs give you this unique feeling of a ‘cleaner’ smoke.
A typical bong comes in many different designs, shapes and sizes, so not only do they look amazing, they give you that cooler, more refreshing smoke that you cannot get from a roll.
Smoking without…Smoking?
So those are the most well known methods of smoking weed in a more traditional manner, but new devices and new forms of weed have introduced us to being able to smoke without actually ‘smoking’. Makes sense, right?
Didn’t think so, but here’s how:
Vaping
Working very similar to bongs, vaping is done by heating your weed just enough to where it does not burn, but gives off a vapor that you inhale through the mouthpiece.
A simplistic, discreet and extremely portable design is no wonder vaping has grown so much in popularity over the last 10 years. Not only can it be done without a lighter or rolling, but the latest vape filters can actually draw out the bad stuff and reduce the infamous ‘weed smell’ almost entirely.
Like other ways of smoking weed that involve devices, vape cartridges can be unsafe when not properly cleaned, but that is an easy fix. Filtering, disinfecting and emptying out the cartridge completely will ensure that no unwanted dust will enter your system.
Dabs
Dabbing (not with your arms) is done by extracting all THC and other cannabinoids, from weed that is either dried and decarbed or freshly harvested (i.e. resin). Because dabs are concentrated THC, they are among the most potent variations of weed you will find.
Like blunts and vapes (to an extent), this creates the chance of taking too much in each hit and giving you a stronger ‘high’ than you might be looking for. You should always know how much THC you are putting into your body and what other chemicals were used in your dabs, but they can still be used responsibly.
Second-hand or Shotgunning
Lastly, if the former is your concern when smoking (strains being too potent or inhaling too much smoke at one time), there are some indirect ways of sharing weed during a smoke session. Second-hand smoke is a concern with tobacco products but is more willingly shared with weed.
As the smoke is exhaled, a very small amount is lost but it begins to dissipate the longer it stays in the air, so you would not be inhaling nearly as much smoke compared to a full-on hit.
You would not avoid smelling weed around second-hand smoke, but you can by shotgunning: moving close to the other person’s mouth and breathing in their smoke. Some actually touch lips while transferring smoke so you get more of it, which can either be romantic or super awkward.
How to Smoke with Limited Supplies
Amazingly, weed is so versatile that if the first smoking technique you try does not suit you, there is a whole list to choose from. But say a dispensary run is temporarily off the table and your supplies are low: Even if you are stuck at home, there is still a way to get your fix.
One-off Hits with Household Items
Something as simple as apples can be carved into weed pipes if you do not have one. The same can be done with bell peppers, pens, water bottles, soda cans and even Starburst. The method only involves skewering, fashioning a bowl within your item of choice, and you are done.
Homemade Bongs
Bongs are simplistic enough by design to be made just as easily at home. Water bottles are among the most popular for homemade bongs, same with empty medicine bottles, cans of chips, extra pipes laying around (a bit more practical) hollowed-out fruit in the same way you would with makeshift pipes.
