How Cannabis is taken and its effects

2009.04.27

There are four main ways to take cannabis; smoke it as a joint, eat or drink it, i.e. hash brownies or tea, use bongs or use pipes. Below is a brief look at each method as well as an explanation of the effects.

Joints (also known as splif, reefer, doobie and more!)

There are several words for a joint, all meaning the same thing; rolling and making your own cannabis cigarette. To make a joint users need rolling papers, tobacco, and whatever form of cannabis they are smoking, either hashish or grass. The preferred amount of cannabis is mixed with some tobacco and they are rolled together into a joint. Usually a roach is used at one end of the joint to prevent tobacco and cannabis from getting in the mouth and to stop the end getting wet. The roach is either a bought cigarette filter or a rolled up piece of card often torn from the rolling papers' package. Amongst smokers rolling joints has become almost an art form in itself. Another way to smoke cannabis is using the leaves of a cigar. This is called a Blunt. Smoking is often though not always social. The effects vary from person to person. Some feel relaxed and happy, while others are sick. Once the drug takes affect smokers can get the giggles, they can start talking a lot about random topics, it can cause hunger pangs which has been termed as getting the 'munchies'. Effects vary also depending on the type of cannabis and the amount used. Joints give the smoker a small hit with each inhalation.

Bongs

A bong gives a purer hit of cannabis because the water cools the smoke and removes impurities. There is also no tobacco involved. The cannabis is burnt at the top or side. The person then sucks at the top as the weed is burnt, drawing the smoke through the water where it is filtered and cooled, and up into their lungs. A variation is the Vapouriser where the weed is vapourised in a stream of hot air instead of burned.

Pipes

Pipes are used much the same way as a bong. Some pipes use water as a cooling and filtering tool also.

Eating/drinking

Cannabis can be used in cooking to be consumed and can be used to make teas. There is also a method of extracting it then mixing with alcohol called a Green Dragon. THC, the active ingredient in cannabis is not very water soluble so to make tea cannabis is dissolved first in a fat like butter or cream, which is then mixed with water to make tea. Another method is using milk rather than water because of the fat in milk. This tea has been made and drunk in India for thousands of years and is called bhang. Tea is often used when cannabis is used for medicinal reasons. When used in food such as brownies or cookies the hit from it is more delayed than other forms of use. It can take up to an hour as instead of inhalation, the cannabis is absorbed through the stomach lining during digestion. However the hit is a lot stronger.