Tips of the Trade: Cannabis Pro Tips

Who wants to learn about simple, yet effective tricks of the trade, important tools, cleaning solution recipes and anything else that can prove to make your stoner life easier? If you said yes, you're in the right place! I will try to cover some great "Stoner Pro Tips"

Cleaning:
If you own any kind of smoking/vaping piece it will eventually get dirty. Getting that sticky resin off of everything can be difficult with just soap and water so I’ve come up with a very good cleaning solution recipe to get the toughest gunk off of your glass. There are many products in stores but they are way overpriced considering you can make it yourself at home with a little experimenting. For those of you who don’t like to experiment, don’t worry, I’ve done the hard work for you.

Strong Cleaning Solution*:
2 parts 91-99% Isopropyl Alcohol
1 part Acetone Nail Polish Remover
Abrasive Sand or Salt or small beads/PVC Pellets
1-2 Drops of Dish Soap
*Will dissolve most plastics. Use with glass only

Alternatively, if you have acrylic pieces or ones that aren’t all that dirty, you can use Isopropyl Alcohol (91-99% preferred) and some Kosher salt or food-grade rock salt.

Now as far as cleaning tools, bristled pipe cleaners (with one tapered end if you can) are probably one of the best things to have. Bottle and bottle nipple brushes work well for some pieces as well. You can invest in special pipe cleaning brushes but a box of pipe cleaners are cheaper and much less maintenance. Q-Tips should be part of your cleaning kit, as well as small brushes like you find in with men’s electric shavers. They are great for scrubbing your grinder before you clean it and other pieces too.

Odor Control:

It should come as no surprise when I tell you that cannabis has an odor. While most cannabis enthusiasts enjoy the smell, those around you may not. There are many ways to reduce and even eliminate cannabis odors and below I will go into more detail.

Every experienced smoker will tell you to go with incense usually. However, I know this isn’t always something people like because it can be overpowering. If you’re into them though, go for it. They work great.

Oil warmers/Wax melters have got to be one of my favorite ways to eliminate odors. I love candles and good smells and this combines both into a nice table piece. You light a candle below a reservoir of scented oil and just let it burn while you smoke. The fragrance is strong but not overpowering and reduces the smell almost completely.

Air neutralizers are another way but they can be pricey. Good products like “Hogwash” have no odor to the spray and just neutralizes the smell to eliminate it. Products like this can get pricey though.

Air it out! Open your top and bottom halves of the windows in your house. The top being open allows circulation to take place. The top will suck hot air and smoke out (smoke rises) and the bottom half will bring in fresh air. This won’t eliminate odor right away but it will keep the smell from lingering after you’ve finished smoking. You can add an exhaust fan to the window as well.

Odor Eliminating Candles are another good one. They range from 4-8 dollars and are sold in smoke shops and pet stores. Pet stores have them labeled as Pet Odor Eliminators but they are the same candles. They actually work quite well to reduce the smell as you smoke.

If you rent and you have a surprise visit and need to mask the smell right away, burn popcorn, burn bread in the toaster or cook/burn bacon. Those smells quickly overpower the smell of cannabis.

Dual draft door guards work great at keeping your apartment/room insulated and also keep the odor in your apartment/room and not outside of it.

“Sploofs” are a name for a homemade device (and now actually made commercially) for masking the smell of the smoke you exhale. Essentially you would take an empty paper towel roll and attach a fabric softener sheet to one end and exhale through the other end to create a fresh smell without the odor. There are variations on sploofs. Commercial ones use activated carbon in a breathable chamber so it naturally gets rid of the smell. You can make your own with activated carbon by filling a soda bottle with the carbon (get from a pet store) and poking breathe holes on the bottom of the bottle for smoke to exit. Make sure you wet the charcoal though. It makes it work better.

Misc. Pro Tips:

If you have a 1-hitter/bat, use it as a roach clip for joints and blunts. If you don't have one, alligator clips that you can buy at Radio Shack and similar stores work very well too.

If you like rolling joints, make sure you use slow burning papers made from hemp like Skunk brand, Raw, and Elements to name a few. Skunk has non-flavored papers as well as sweet hemp (skunkalicious), blueberry, strawberry, and Piña colada. Skunk brand are my favorites personally.

The best way to keep your cannabis fresh is by keeping it in an air-tight jar like a mason jar. It will help keep the odor down as well too.

If your cannabis is too dry, adding an orange peel to your storage container for a day or two should revive your herb and give a nice flavor to it.

Getting the Most Out of Your Weed

Feel like you go through your cannabis too quickly no matter how much you buy? Don't worry, there's many ways to get the most out of your cannabis without sacrificing your high. Below I will go over some of the best ways I’ve found thus far.

One of the best ways to conserve your cannabis is to vaporize. When you vaporize cannabis you heat the herb just below combustion point and extract only THC vapor (depending on your temps you extract CBD and other cannabinoids as well). As long as you vaporize and not burn your herb, you can save what is left over after there is no more vapor and save it for edibles. “Vapor poo” as I call it is great for making cannabis butter and tinctures. However, with thoroughly vaporized herb, you do not get as much THC so you will experience more of a “couch lock” high with those edibles. Once you’ve made your edibles, save the herb you strain from whatever mixture you make and you can place some in empty pill capsules, add it to food . That right there just gave you 3x the amount of use from one batch of cannabis!

Every time you buy at least a 1/4 oz. save at least one decent-sized bud and label its strain if possible in a separate baggie, in a stash jar. After a couple restocks you will have built up a great stash for a rainy day jar or for whatever occasion. Not only will you likely have a lot of stashed away, but you will have a great variety to do a tasting, much like wine tasting but with more munchies, laughter, and fun.

One of the most important things to have when you smoke, isn’t a piece to smoke or vaporize it from, it’s a good grinder! Having a good grinder is key to conserving your cannabis. The finer the grind, the more surface area your herb has and the less you need to use to fill a bowl or smoke. A good grinder will grind finely and have at least 1 pollen catcher under the herb chamber. That pollen chamber is where all of your trichromes collect and as long as you learn to forget about it for a while, you will be pleasantly surprised when you open it on a rainy day to find it packed of that yellow/green goodness. The pollen, or kief as it’s typically called is THC in one of its strongest forms. This is what hash is made of and will get you very high. Buying efficient pieces also helps save your herb but that will be talked about more at a later time.

Remember children, be wise and use all of the buffalo!

Indica vs. Sativa: What's the Difference?

Sorry for the recent disappearing act. This "Polar Vortex" and insane amount of snow has had my time taken up. Not to worry readers, I'm back on track and will continue to share my knowledge and tips with you all. Today's topic is the differences between Cannabis Indica and Cannabis Sativa. These two species of cannabis both have the ability to create a "high" we all enjoy but each one has different effects.

Sativas are typically a very cerebral high that makes you more energetic and creative. It's a wonderful choice for daytime use and for those that need to lift their mood. A very good sativa will put you at one with yourself and elevate your mood and have you giggling and smiling. It really gets your brain going and helps you focus as well. I know, "weed makes you focus?" Yes it actually can, if you smoke the correct strains. Generally any sativa or sativa dominant hybrid strain will help you focus immensely. It really helps get your creative juices flowing. Some of the best music *cough*anything Pink Floyd *cough* has been the result of a few good hits of sativas. If you feel wound up and stressed or just "out of it", this is the stuff for you.

Sativas:
Sativa plants are taller, take longer to mature, have less chlorophyll and more accessory pigments (accessory pigments protect the plant from excessive sunlight). As Sativa strains have less chlorophyll than Indica they take longer to grow, mature, and require more light.
Source: http://tinyurl.com/mzd4x5e

Indicas are more of a body high that is more physical and sedated. That's not to say your head doesn't get fuzzy when yo consume it. When you see stoners in movies that just lay on the couch the whole time and zone out, that's typical of an Indica high. Your entire body feels very relaxed and you often experience what is commonly referred to as, "couch lock." It usually makes you really sleepy, so this would be great for those with sleeping problems. That's also why it is ideal for nighttime use.

Indica plants are short, bushy, mature early, have more chlorophyll and less accessory pigments (accessory pigments protect the plant from excessive sunlight). As Indica strains have more chlorophyll than sativa they grow and mature faster.
Source: http://tinyurl.com/mzd4x5e

Sativa Uses:

• Energy
• Pain Relief
• Headaches
• Mood Elevation
• Increases Focus
• Stimulates Appetite
• Helps Lower Depression
• Useful PTSD Treatment

Indica Uses:

• Anxiety Relief
• Sleep Aid
• Muscle Relaxant
• Pain Relief
• IBS/IBD/Crohn’s treatment
• Anti-inflammation
• Reduces intra-ocular pressure
• Reduces nausea
• Reduces seizures
• Relaxation/Sedation
• Relives headaches and migraines

The "High Scale": How High Are You?

This scale is to be taken humorously as well as give you a relative idea of what you would feel on a certain scale. Remember, everyone’s tolerance varies and this is to be taken mostly as a joke. Enjoy!

 [0]
Sober still. No “funny feelings” yet. Smoke up, man.

[1]
Beginning of “funny feelings”. Mild muscle and mind relaxation

 
 [2]
It’s kicking in, man. Random thoughts may surface. Seeking comfort, increased relaxation












[3]
It’s working man. Random thoughts become common. Increased appreciation of comfort, food, music and more.

[4]
Still rising, man. Weird muscle feeling may appear. For some, couch lock may set in already at this point. Music will start to sound much better. Thought patterns may start to transform. Mind images will start to clarify. Very mild closed eye visuals. Newcomers are blown away already at this point, they probably didn’t expect anything like this. But it’s good man. Relax.

[5]
Good shit, man. Couch lock may become common if smoking an indica but sativas will be causing energy and euphoria. Thought patterns have changed quite a lot. Weird muscle feelings become common. Everything is amplified. Concentration is starting to be affected. You may experience zooming out into somewhere only you inhabit for small periods of time. Newcomers may start to freak out but it’s all good man. Chill. Relax.


[6]
Thought patterns change radically. All feelings, thoughts, and senses are amplified, extended, deepened. Concentration is difficult for advanced tasks. Couch lock is almost a rule with indicas, but experienced smokers can still operate, which means getting food. Sativas will have your mind racing with ideas and creativity. Psychedelic feelings begin.

[7]
At this point, you’re pretty fucking smashed, dude. Dissociation may kick in for longer periods of time. Even experienced smokers probably just lie down at this point. Losing yourself in thought becomes easy. Some people may feel very tired. Radically transformed thought flow, starting to feel like a psychedelic experience. Newcomers more likely to freak out unless they have a strong sense of self control.

[8]
Well now, you’re starting to be very dissociated and may find keeping your eyes open difficult. Closed eye visuals are very common and may be intense, you may find yourself lost in them easily. Hearing sounds becomes slightly common

[9]
You’re gone, lost in thought. Falling asleep becomes very easy. Concentration is almost impossible to muster up, even for very simple tasks such as opening your mouth. Everything that your senses receive is put through a million amplifiers and distortion pedals, what you receive is probably not your friends saying, “let’s stick a carrot up his ass”, more like, “HURR DURR DERP”

[10]
The level of highness becomes so mother fucking that most people fall asleep, those who stay conscious may not remember much of their trip. What you experience can be compared to a good deal of strong psychedelics. Good shit man!

[Holy Mother Fucking High]
The rarest and most sacred of all highs, achieved only by a select few grand-masters across the millennia. The specific effects of such a high are unknown, but it is said that achievers may never return to the local galactic cluster again.

How to Roll a Joint: Beginner Level

Not knowing how to roll a joint is nothing to be ashamed of. Even some of the more seasoned cannabis smokers don't know how. If you have never tried to roll before, there are several options available to you. You can buy any of the many kinds of rolling machines. They range from $3 up to $100 depending on how fancy you go. Alternatively you could buy pre-rolled papers that you pack yourself, but they can be a little difficult to pack and don't always burn evenly. The best option (at least in my opinion) is to learn how to roll them yourself. It takes time to learn how to do it properly but with practice you'll be a pro in no time.

This time I will be showing you the method I started off with when I first learned to roll. The image below is a detailed step by step guide.

What It's All About

You can call me Mrs. FeelGood. I'm just your everyday gal that just so happens to be a cannabis enthusiast. My goal is to share some helpful tips that may help you during your time consuming cannabis. My posts will range from helpful to funny to serious topics.

Almost anyone who has consumed cannabis in one way or another can tell you how great it feels, however please smoke responsibly. Know your limits and remember, it’s not a contest to see who can get higher first. It’s about feeling good and being at peace with yourself and everything around you. Do not operate a vehicle while very high. Do not travel with cannabis in open view in your car. Avoid smoking in public places that outlaw cannabis and most of all, respect others especially while you consume cannabis.

To my readers, spark up and enjoy!