4 Different Ways to Consume Cannabis

If you’re a cannabis newbie, you may only be familiar with one – maybe two – ways to consume cannabis.

It’s time to expand your horizons!

There are actually four major ways to get cannabis into your system, and knowing what they are isn’t just useful trivia. Depending on your health, living circumstances, and/or personal preferences, one of these methods might work a lot better for you than the others.

Here they are!

1. Smoking

The most well-known method of cannabis consumption!

You can smoke marijuana using a joint, pipe, bong, or – if you’re really creative – an empty beer can or even an apple!

ADVANTAGES: Effects are nearly instantaneous. Easy to control the dosage.

DISADVANTAGES: You’re inhaling smoke into your lungs. Also, if you’re using cannabis to treat chronic pain, you’ll need to take a dose about every 1-3 hours in order to continue getting relief.

2. Vaporizing

Vaporizing isn’t just for Martians with ray guns. It’s also a great way to inhale cannabis without all the smoke.

A cannabis vaporizer is a device that heats the cannabis flower or oil to a temperature below the burning point, causing the cannabinoids to be released in vapor form. You inhale this vapor just as you would smoke.

You can invest in a desktop vaporizer for home use, or you can get a portable vape pen.

ADVANTAGES: Same advantages as smoking but with no harsh smoke going into your lungs.

DISADVANTAGES: Like smoking, you may need to dose every 1-3 hours to treat chronic pain. Also, sometimes the oil in disposable vape pen cartridges can thicken and clog up your pen. But a pen battery that allows you to heat up the oil inside for a few seconds can help solve this problem.

3. Edibles

Who doesn’t like cookies, brownies, and candy?

Now infuse those same treats with cannabis and you have a sure-fire way to ingest the Green Queen without involving your lungs at all. You can make your own cannabis-infused meals, or you can purchase ready-to-eat edible products.

ADVANTAGES: They’re delicious. More intense, deeply felt high. Can last up to 6 hours.

DISADVANTAGES: Usually takes up to 30 minutes to two hours to kick in, depending on your metabolism. It also might take some practice measuring and dividing up each dose, depending on how the product is made.

4. Topicals

The skin is the human body’s largest organ, and it can absorb things like sunlight, oxygen, suntan lotion…

Speaking of lotion, have you ever tried putting cannabis on your skin? Because you totally can!

Topicals cover a wide range of cannabis skin application products that come in the form of lotions, salves, oils, and balms.

ADVANTAGE:  They can be used to directly treat damaged skin, sore muscles, and joint pain. Plus, the THC won’t enter your bloodstream, so you won’t get high.

DISADVANTAGE: Like we said, you won’t get high. ;) On a serious note, some topicals do smell like cannabis, especially if they’re homemade. If that’s an issue for you, you may want to stay at home after applying them.

What’s your favorite way of consuming cannabis? Smoking? Vaping? Edibles? Topicals? Some other method we didn’t list? Share your comments on the Essence Facebook page!