Cannabis 101: Know Your Smoke

Often we describe our weed in simple terms: good or bad. We’ll say its gas, fire, loud, exotic, trash, mid, reggie, weak etc. But what is it exactly? Do we know the name? Do we know what type of strain it is? Do we know how it makes us feel? Do we know how we like to experience it? These are all super important questions to have answers to regardless of what kind of frequenter of cannabis you are. Being aware of what kind of flower we’re consuming (or vape, edible, etc), how we feel post smoke, and what we think of it moving forward gives us more insight and control regarding our experience.

Back in high school I was introduced to cannabis with my first spliff of Sour Diesel. Since that time I was curious about what flower I was getting and the different strains that existed. Soon after I was in college asking my plugs “what is it, like what is it called?”, only to be met with the reply of “its some gas, how much you want?” *eyeroll* But hey, reliability was scarce and I trusted my sources enough to buy anyways. Sometimes I would get a strain name, but I’d be skeptical (unless I could identify the strain myself) because why did they only know sometimes???

So I would cross reference the names I was given and sites that broke down various strains and its impact then compare it to my experience. I began taking note of how I felt while and after I smoked. I realized some strains would have me mentally stimulated and uplifted while others felt more full body and relaxed. This emphasized the need to place attention on what I was smoking and how I was smoking. Certain strains were perfect for me after a long day of classes followed by dance practice while others helped me sleep or were great for study sessions. I had to find my flow and understand what worked by paying attention to what I was smoking.

Many can relate to my experience in undergrad I’m sure-not knowing exactly what you’re smoking but hoping to enjoy the experience regardless. I get it (and I aint above it either lol it happens). I’m aware that everyone’s accessibility to cannabis is different. It may or may not be legal where you live. There are plenty of barriers. Everyone’s experience and education regarding cannabis varies. (I largely blame the war on drugs that created the stigma around cannabis). Maybe your plug doesn’t know what kind of flower they’re selling or maybe they do (but maybe you’re skeptical like I was lol). Maybe you can go to a dispensary and pick out exactly what you want or maybe dispensary trips suck because you need assitance but the budtenders don’t know much (it happens). Whatever the case, I have three questions that can help:

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Originally published at http://dayswithdash.blog on December 22, 2020.