When it comes to marijuana consumption, it’s easy to overlook your methodology. However, there are various different ways you can consume weed, each providing distinct effects and experiences. To put it in the simplest way, there are three ways to consume cannabis: you can inhale it, you can take it orally, or you can topically apply it to the skin.
The inhalation method is, of course, the most obvious one. Most people, when they think of cannabis, relate it to smoking joints or hitting a bong. With this method, cannabis enters the lungs before the bloodstream absorbs it, but it is still an extremely quick way to consume cannabis.
Inhaling cannabis
Marijuana can be inhaled in numerous ways, and one of the most common ways (excluding joints and bongs, we all know what they do) to inhale it is a vaporizer. Vaping is a new trend that swept the globe and has had a tremendous influence on the cannabis community, too. A vaporizer heats up the herb steadily to a temperature just high enough to extract its THC. Essentially, vaping your weed helps to reduce health risks that are associated with smoking – you also don’t need to add tobacco or whatever else you would otherwise use to dilute your smoke.
Eating or drinking marijuana
The oral method is also widely used by the cannabis community, and a very prevalent way to orally consume cannabis is through food. Edibles include eating or drinking your weed in products and have proven to have considerably different effects compared to inhalation methods. Edibles are incredibly popular because their effects tend to last much longer, and these effects tend to be powerful, affecting the whole body. Most people have heard of pot brownies, but in most cases, it's actually the butter or the oil that’s used to make the brownies that are infused with cannabis.
Myriad ways
Applying marijuana in a topical fashion isn’t very common at all amongst recreational users – this is because it doesn’t provide the ‘high’ feeling that most people are chasing when they use weed. Instead, topical cannabis is more suited to those needing localized relief, which is why it is popular amongst people with muscle soreness or stiff joints.
As you can see, and I haven’t even mentioned half of them, there is a myriad of ways to consume your cannabis. Whether you are chasing a high, struggling with pain, or simply just want to relax, there is definitely a method out there that will be perfect for you. It's understandable that a lot of people don’t want to be at risk of the health hazards so commonly associated with smoking, which is why I hope this guide is helpful in aiding anyone who wants to try something different – or entirely new.
