Dear fellow travelers and cannabis connoisseurs,
Let's not pretend we're all experts on EVERYTHING relating to cannabis. Sure, I've been in the industry for 6 years. I've worked front of house as well as grow facilities. I've seen the entire process from seed to budtender. To put it lightly, I've been around. That doesn't mean I know all there is to know about the plant (FYI, there's a lot to remember).
What I can say from experience is this: Most people don't know how to buy weed.
These days, dispensaries are in high competition with one another for customers. What draws the biggest crowd? High THC content.
Price is relatively the same if you avoid the super tourist-type dispensaries. I can get a 1/2 ounce for roughly $80-100 throughout Colorado. This tells me that price isn't a huge deterrent for the average customer. What is important to a great majority of people? How high can I get?
Something really important that needs to be screamed from the roof-tops:
High THC content does NOT get you "more high"!
It's hard to believe, but I promise there is data to back this up. Take a look at this passage from Chris Roberts' article at FORBES:
Not only does THC content have nothing to do with how “good” the weed is, as recent research conducted by the University of Colorado and published in JAMA Psychiatry found, THC content is also a poor indicator of potency.
Researchers at the University of Colorado at Boulder’s Institute of Cognitive Science documented the experiences of 121 cannabis users. Half the study participants were users of cannabis concentrates—very-high THC cannabis extracts—and the other half preferred cannabis flower.
Both groups received cannabis at varying “strengths”: flower users tried cannabis flower at either 16 percent or 24 percent THC, and extract users received oil at either 70 percent or 90 percent THC. Researchers checked study participants’ blood and monitored their mood, cognitive function, and intoxication level before, immediately after, and one hour after use.
As the researchers expected, the concentrate users had very high levels of THC in their bodies after use. But they weren’t “more high.”
In fact, every participants’ self-reported “highness” was about the same—“as were their measures of balance and cognitive impairment,” as CU noted in a news release. Medium THC flower, high-THC flower—all the same high! This was not what the researchers were expecting.
“People in the high concentration group were much less compromised than we thought they would be,” said coauthor Kent Hutchinson, a professor of psychology who studies addiction, in a CU news release. “If we gave people that high a concentration of alcohol it would have been a different story.”
For the entire article go here.
So, for those of you still reading. Let me put two options in front of you.
Option A) Sativa strain at 23% THC content
Option B) Hybrid strain at 13% THC content
Probability tells me you want to go for Option A even though you haven't tried Option B and it could very well be a better high. There's also a high chance that you could smoke both choices and have similar psychoactive effects.
Simple truth is this: there are a lot of factors that play a role in how you react to THC or CBD. If we continue to look at numbers instead of the science behind every flower, we may never find that perfect high.
As an advocate for medical marijuana and educating the public on cannabis, it's important to note when we've been making a HUGE MISTAKE. This mistake is believing THC content is the key factor to "high quality" weed. It's simply not.
The next time you're in a dispensary, don't be afraid to ask about terpenes and/or what you're looking to get out of the product. If the budtender sounds like he/she is making shit up, they probably are. That will happen. However, you're more than welcome to ask if there's anyone working that can go into greater detail. Again, most likely there will be. Ask questions. They are there to help, not judge.
I would like to also note that when we talk about flower and concentrates, this does not relate to edibles. If you are new to edibles, my friend, start low and slow. Edibles don't fuck around. That gummy may only be 50 mg, but there's a good chance you only need 25 mg and the other 25 mg land you on your ass. So please, use good judgement and realize smoking flower and eating edibles are different and should be treated as such.
Now, I know you're asking me, what is a good way to buy weed? Here are a few recommendations:
If you're allowed to smell the flower, give it a sniff (not in a creepy way, though). Many times your nose will tell you what terpenes your body is craving.
Ask questions, don't be afraid to ask for an "expert" if you feel the budtender is less-than helpful - we've all been there.
Think about what kind of high you want. Do you need something for sleep, concentration, mood, hunger.... once you narrow down what you really need, finding a strain becomes easier.
Long story short, you could be missing our on amazing terpene profiles if all you look at are the THC levels. I pitty the fool that does that.
My friends, I beg of you to spread your new knowledge and tell five friends what you've just learned. Please, for the love of God, pay it forward. We must end this ridiculous race to the highest THC percentage and focus once again on great quality cannabis.
Remember: Quality over Quantity all day long.
Safe travels and happy smoking,
Gabby
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