The Straight Toke - THE Marijuana Blog

What other ways can cannabis be used, other than smoking it?

First, if you're interested in the different ways to smoke pot, you can read our "how to guide" on the subject. That said, there are a variety of ways to ingest cannabis that do not involve the inhalation of smoke. Here are some of the more effective ways to consume the herb:

• Vaporize it. A good vaporizer costs between £50 and £250, but it's a worthwhile investment. Vaporizers provide a fast and effective way to use the THC from Marijuana. By heating the plant material to the boiling point of THC (200 C or so), the THC boils away from the plant material with no combustion. Since there is no smoke, vaporization is often a popular choice amongst medical marijuana users.
• Grind it, eat it. Marijuana is quite effective when consumed orally. Therefore, some users may choose to grind up their cannabis, and sprinkle it on top of food. THC is fat-soluble, thus it is often mixed in with food with a high fat content (thus the infamous "pot brownies".) According to one of our readers, "One serving [of brownies] was equal to 0.5 grams of previously-vaporized cannabis, and it would please a seasoned marijuana user." You're not limited to brownies though -- any food with a good bit of fat (i.e. oil/butter) will do fine. Note: cooking cannabis with oil or butter tends to give off a pretty strong odor. Take this into account when cooking with pot.
• Make tea. Cannabis tea is a lesser known method of ingestion, but a method of ingestion none the less. Buds can be steeped in water, with or without an additional tea (although some report success with green tea.)
• Make "green dragon". Green dragon is a combination of high-proof alcohol and marijuana. Although there are several ways of preparing this beverage, the end result is the same: an extremely intoxicating mixture of ethanol and cannaboids. The simplest way to make it involves dropping a fat nug into some high-proof vodka and letting it sit for a couple weeks. There are other methods, but they're a bit more complex, and require some care to pull off safely. At a bare minimum, one should read the Wikipedia entry on Green Dragon before trying to make this drink. Note: while you won't OD on THC from Green Dragon, it tends to be highly alcoholic, so consume in moderation. Also, it packs quite a THC punch, so even a little goes a long way.
• Make cannabutter. Cannabutter (or cannabis butter) is easy to make, and contains a high THC content. Since it's basically butter + cannaboids, it can be used in cooking or baking, and contains little to no weed taste, making it perfect for dishes that you don't want to change the flavor of. Suggested uses: pasta dishes, baked goods, and with your morning toast. Note: making cannabutter produces a pretty potent pot smell. Make sure you do this in a well-ventilated area...

There are a couple other ways to consume cannabis, but those are the key ones. Enjoy!

Update (26 March 2008): A reader pointed out an inaccuracy / confusing wording in the "Grind it, eat it" tip. I've corrected the tip in question. Thank you to [reader] for spotting this!

If you liked that post, then try these...

Weed Mixers (or What do I mix with my pot?) on February 28th, 2008

The Strength of Marijuana on April 26th, 2007

The Strength of Dutch Weed on December 5th, 2007



This entry was posted on Thursday, January 10th, 2008 at 3:21 pm and is filed under Health/Medicine, Q/A, Terminology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.