I have plenty of friends who wouldn’t dare put their lips to the tip of a cigarette yet smoke a preroll a day. Of course, everyone has a vice that might not align with our best selves–but is cannabis really a loophole for your lungs?

Recently, we teamed up with Reckner360 to find out. We asked pulmonologists (the lung doctors) about the effect of smoking cannabis on your lungs. The results weren’t pretty.

Of the doctors questioned, 56% believe smoking cannabis is NOT healthier than smoking cigarettes. A total of 78% believe there is no ‘safe’ amount of cannabis when it comes to lung health, while 63% believe there is no way to reverse or mitigate the negative effects of smoking on your lungs. Those who answered that the effects can be reversed suggest you quit smoking for twice as long as you maintained the habit.

While cannabis itself has proven harmless and often beneficial, smoking has not magically become guilt-free alongside it. Luckily, there are plenty of ways to elevate yourself without lighting up.

Better solutions

As the cannabis market grows more sophisticated, so do its methods. With new and trusted ways to consume cannabis, it’s easier than ever to incorporate cannabis into an active lifestyle. However, with all the new options out there, it can get overwhelming. No worries, we’ll break this down together.

In this series, we will walk you through a basic survey of the most popular smokeless alternatives on the market today, including:

• Vapor
• Food & Beverage
• Tinctures
• Topicals

Of course, these methods are just the start of what is to come in the cannabis industry. New techniques for consumption are popping up every day, ranging from relief patches and bath salts to quick-dissolving strips. That is to say nothing of the variety within the categories above: BBQ sauce, gum, k-cups, maple syrup, lube−you name it, there is a cannabis-infused version of it.

Like any other medication or substance, effective cannabis use involves some trial and error before you will find what is right for you. Learning about each option available is a great place to start. Discover what you like, discard what you don’t, and remember everyone has their unique set of needs and preferences when it comes to consuming cannabis. It’s a journey, and research is the best place to start.

The post No smoke, no problem: enjoy cannabis smoke-free appeared first on Flowertown.

Everyday it seems like there’s a new way to consume cannabis. But in the age of edibles, tinctures, patches and vapes, there’s only one true OG: flower. As a long-time consumer, the explosion of infused products is just as welcome to me as it is to newcomers. Lower, more consistent doses allow me to adjust my preferred state of mind more finely than ever. A wider variety of ingestion methods allow me to enjoy cannabis in a wider variety of settings and mitigates the direct correlation between my enjoyment of the plant and the amount of tar going down my throat. That said, flower is still, and likely will always be, my favorite way to enjoy cannabis.

How I Learned

As cannabis goes mainstream, it’s refreshing to see old stigmas and labels falling away. But as new brands and consumers clean up the “stoner” image, it’s important to preserve what was good about this culture we used to call counter-culture. In a space that was inevitably laden with risk (significantly more risk for people of color, of course), where no one could be blamed for being stingy or distrustful, the majority of my anecdotal experience with other cannabis consumers was of kindness and respect. Particularly in areas where the political or legal climate was less than welcoming, the significance of small acts of generosity was and is tenfold.

Some people might attribute this to the properties of the plant, but I like to credit the power of ritual. Not in the spiritual sense, (though that’s not an uncommon ascription) but in the anthropological sense. Much in the same way that the family dinner table or the bar/pub has codified social norms and acts into the consumption of food or alcohol, so has the smoke session for cannabis. The sequence of steps required to prepare flower for a group of people has, with exception to modern upgrades like grinders and percolator-stuffed water pipes, remained largely the same. These steps have been imbued with intention in a way that perpetuates consideration to those around you, keeping this part of cannabis culture alive in ways mass media never could. Unwritten laws like “Puff, puff, pass”, “don’t bogart the joint” and “corner the bowl” all derive from the same basic principle of etiquette: don’t be an asshole.

To Stop Coughing

It’s not hard to understand why burning flower can be intimidating or frightening to people just entering the space. The health risks are the most obvious, and it requires a certain level of dexterity with a flame and a practiced control of your breath. Worst of all, a misstep can cause a flower newbies worst nightmare: the dreaded coughing fit. Where the tingle in your throat turns into ahem, then a hack and then all of a sudden you’re trapped in a coughing prison. But follow the steps below and you’ll be able to enjoy flower just like our ancestors have for centuries.

First up, how to prep:

(If you’re partaking in a pre-roll, you can skip to the next section, this part has been done for you!)

1. Take care of your flower

Ensure the flower has been kept properly. Old, dried out herb will burn faster and make more likely you pull in more smoke than you mean to. You’ll want to keep your flower in sealed containers out of sunlight to keep it fresh. If you’ve just purchased from a legal dispensary you can be pretty certain they’ve taken the same care, you’ll want to keep it the same quality as long as you can!

2. Take care of yourself

Gather your smoking apparati and accessories: generally a grinder, lighter/hemp wick, and your pipe/papers. Grab some water. Find some friends and a nice spot. Something like a balcony or patio is perfect but we can’t all be fancy schmancy homeowners with private outdoor areas so at least make sure you’re somewhere where you won’t be bothered and you’re free to relax. If it’s your first time, a setting that you know, with friends you trust, is ideal.

3. Grind it up

Good quality stuff should come as intact “nugs”. In order to prepare them for smoking, the stems need to be removed and the flower buds themselves to be ground up for ease of prep, whether you’re using a pipe or paper.  If you’re so inclined, it’s not uncommon to pass around the unbroken flower like an appetizer or pre-wine waft so that everyone can appreciate.

4. Pack it, roll it, put it in a stew

The easiest way to use your prepped flower is a pipe. Simply pack the ground flower into the bowl (snug and even, but not too tight) and you’re good to go. If you’ve opted for some form of papers, there’s a little more practice and dexterity involved. Tom can give you the basic gist:

And now you’re ready for, how to smoke:

5. Light it

If you’re using papers, try to light the tip evenly to prevent “canoeing”, a phenomenon where one side of the roll burns faster than the other, leaving you with a sort of paper “canoe” with wasted or unburnt flower. If you’re using a bowl, remember to “corner” it! Brightly colored flower, untouched by flame, burns the easiest and smoothest. For this reason, it’s considered good etiquette to keep your flame from engulfing all of the fresh flower. To achieve this, just lightly touch flame to the edge of the bowl as you inhale, to “pull” the flame closer. Most people will try and keep their flame to a single quadrant of the bowl.  A hemp wick is a great alternative to your average lighter as it’s much easier to control, as well as reducing the risk of inhaling the butane in the lighter.

6. Puff…

While the mechanics of a pre-roll and a pipe are slightly different, the same principles apply. You want to get the smoke into your lungs and out again, with minimal irritation to your breathing. This is done by making sure you get a good amount of fresh, cool air to balance the harsh, hot nature of smoke. With a pipe, you’ll want to familiarize yourself with the carburetor, the third hole on the side of the pipe. By covering it with your finger, you can control the amount of fresh air vs. smoke you’re inhaling. If it’s your first time, try inhaling a lung full of air, to gauge where your lung capacity is at. When you take your first pull of smoke, pull slowly to fill the pipe, ease off the carb and try to only fill a quarter of your lungs before filling the rest with fresh air. Exhale.

7. …puff, pass to the left

As is tradition, you’re entitled to one more “puff” before passing it on. This ensures that everyone in the circle gets an equal amount. With more practice, and some trial and error, you’ll eventually have a better understanding of your respiratory system’s threshold for coughing and be able to take more confident pulls. Technically passing left is “tradition”, but mostly it just important to keep the direction consistent. If conversation and good times are flowing, remember not to “bogart” the flower. So named after Humphrey Bogart’s tendency to speak with a cigarette hanging out the side of his mouth, it’s easy to accidentally hold up the circle with a long-winded story. Again, the priority here is equal consideration for your fellows.

8. All good things must come to an end

As the bowl or pre-roll comes closer to its end, you’ll likely notice the flower get darker and the smoke get harsher. As mentioned as the reason for “cornering”, it only stands to reason that your originally fresh and bright flower will be dark and depleted by the end. If you’ve had your fill, don’t be afraid to give your lungs some respite and politely decline the next round. If you’re feeling feisty, just remember the smoke gets harsher and harsher, so you’ll need to adjust how much you’re pulling accordingly.

Love the Flower

Much like a sit down dinner, or the uncorking and presentation of a wine, there’s a basic step-by-step to enjoying flower. And just like group dinners and wine-tastings, each of the steps also embodies something greater about the experience. Just like the dinner and the wine, it’s not so much about the food or alcohol, as it is the people you’re with. It’s about talking together, venting together, pondering together or really, just being together. Wherever you’ve been or you’re at, you collectively embark on a journey of shared experience and meet each other on the same wavelength. As you grow older, as the world gets larger and relationships drift, these moments are of rarefied air. These experiences build on each other, layering over time, by tying disconnected people and moments together. In the same way that a certain dish or tablecloth might take you back to your mother’s cooking, catching up with an old friend over some flower brings to mind all our old rituals, and enforcing those memories and bonds with a new one.

The post How I learned to stop coughing and love the flower appeared first on Flowertown.

The price points on luxury products are funny things.

Take cigars, for example. A Gurkha His Majesty’s Reserve cigar will set you back $750. Sure, the wrappers are aged for 15 years and the filler is infused with Louis XIII cognac, but at the end of the day, no one who buys a His Majesty’s Reserve cigar believes that the price tag is justified by the product. They buy them to say they did.

At hundreds of dollars a pop it’s more about the status symbol than the cigar – however exquisite the cigar in question might be. You could make the same argument for pricey wines, luxury cars, and designer clothes.

Is it any wonder that cannabis is trying to tap into those sweet luxury market dollars, too?

Enter the cannagar

A cannabis cigar-like blunt. Cannagars contain ground up flower, often supplemented with a little concentrated THC.

They’re rolled in marijuana leaves, which gives them the distinct green coloring that visually sets them apart from a traditional, tobacco cigar. And they retail anywhere from $100 to $3,600.

And by all accounts, they’re very, very good. Take the $420 Leira Corona. The six-inch-long, 42-gage cannagar contains 12 grams of organic flower from Gold Leaf Gardens.

Cannagar by Leira Cannabis Cigars – CC BY

Leering over Leiras

The flower is packed around a small dowel, which is later removed, leaving behind a tiny hollow core that ensures an even burn. The flower is coated in a solvent-free resin to give it a little extra punch. Then they’re hand-rolled in marijuana leaves and cured for at least a month.

The end result is a potent, smooth cannagar that lasts up to six hours.

That’s a good, long time spent smoking, and this is really where cannagars begin to (if they can) justify their price tag. Cannagars are easy to share, even with a room full of people. And their sophisticated, elegant look makes them the picture perfect thing to puff and pass at weddings or other formal parties. Leira really leans into this aspect.

But is that level of high society imagery worth $420? Maybe. After all, what are luxury products for if not to commemorate special occasions like marriages, births, anniversaries, and promotions?

Rose Cannagar by Las Vegas Cannagars – CC BY

Plenty of people, and not just the ludicrously wealthy, will pick up a bottle of good champagne or a box of cigars to share with their friends and family when they have something to celebrate.

A cannagar like a Gold Leaf Leira or a Las Vegas Rose Gar is just one more way to share joy with your friends and, yes, throw a little cash around. So maybe it’s not really worth the money, but sometimes it’s worth spending it anyway.

And if cigars aren’t your thing, that’s not a problem. The amount and variety of high quality products in cannabis is growing everyday.

If you enjoy the smoke but not the potency of a cannagar, try a premium pre-roll. If that’s not your thing, try a nice, smooth vape to pass around with you and your friends.

The post Cannagars: is the luxury product worth its weight in flower? appeared first on Flowertown.

Every new industry is the same: while many beneficial changes come with new regulation, there is also a slew of new problems that arise. One of those issues for cannabis legalization is packaging waste. New regulations in California, for instance, have prioritized safety by requiring hefty amounts of packaging and tamper-proof material for each individual product. These rules have drawn criticism from environmental activists and concerned citizens alike, as cannabis packaging is expected to produce massive amounts of new plastic in landfills.

It may not be as effective as cutting your meat and dairy intake, but there are environmentally friendly ways to ensure not all your cannabis packaging goes to waste. A great example is the plastic tubes each individual pre-roll is packaged in. If you enjoy smoking, you know there is nothing better than a pre-roll after a long and stressful day. But with single-use plastic on its way out, it’s time to get creative with all those old preroll containers lying around. Go beyond the recycle bin and choose to reuse with these DIY ideas.

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When you are thinking about road tripping to Vegas with your friends, you’re probably thinking about loading up on snacks, pit stops, and all the things you want to do when you get there. One thing to consider for your trip is planning your cannabis use when you get there.

 Planning Your Trip

The nearly five-hour drive to Vegas is one that can be a fun bonding experience with your friends, especially when great music and snacks are involved.

You can choose to hop on the 10 west or the 15 south, depending on which direction you are coming from. It’s always best to hit the road before rush hour traffic starts around 6 am or later on in the evening when it ends after 7 pm. Avoiding heavy traffic can cut a five-hour trip down to four hours, but also remember to drive safely!

Making sure your car is ready for the trip and you are fully stocked up on snacks are a must, but what about packing your cannabis with you?

While it may seem like a great idea to store your favorite flower or concentrate in your backseat, it’s 100% illegal to transport across state lines.

Unfortunately, this choice could lead to a misdemeanor or felony charge. But no worries–you’ll have plenty of options to make up for it when you get to your destination.

Hitting The Road

You’ve loaded all your friends in your car and you’ve checked that you have everything you need (don’t forget the sunblock as it gets extremely hot there). So what about stopping for the essentials during your drive?

Barstow is a famous pit stop on the way to meet lady luck. The quaint town is a good two-hour midpoint between Los Angeles and Vegas going both ways, with gas stations and fast food options to quickly refuel.

On the way to Barstow, think about taking a small detour and traveling up the historic route 66. Here is where you’ll take a step back in history from old diners to antique shops and even an ostrich farm. It’s not the easiest task to find the route, so try a website like this one if you are nervous about your GPS. Remember when you are driving that your phone service may go in and out, so having a map handy won’t hurt.

Places to Visit

You made it! Now what? You’re probably ready to head out with your friends, or relax a bit. Since cannabis use is legal in Las Vegas, there is a myriad of dispensary options for your taste.

Essence Vegas is located right across from the Stratosphere hotel at the southern end of the strip. The store boasts over 50 strains of flowers including topicals and concentrates. Guests can also enjoy a discounted Lyft ride using the code provided on their website.

The Apothecary Shoppe is also another highly rated location because it’s the only cannabis shop on the strip open 24/7. Guests can order online and pick up without hassle, just show your I.D. and you’re good to go.

Budtender by The Apothecary Shoppe – CC BY

Another cool dispensary to try is NuWu Cannabis, the only drive-thru shop in the city. They are also known for having one of the largest selections. If you are willing to venture away from the strip, this may be worth a try.

After consuming, you’ll be ready to get on with your stay. The beauty of Vegas is that it’s definitely not lacking in things to do. If you arrive at the city early in the morning, consider ziplining down the historic Fremont Street. At night, check out of the shows (J-Lo is performing!) before hitting the clubs or casino with friends.

Just remember, “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas”.

The post An Angeleno’s road trip guide to cannabis in Vegas. appeared first on Flowertown.

Congratulations! You or a loved one have decided to dive into the wonderful world of cannabis. The new year is a great time to explore some of the many products on the market. From bath bombs to oils, these products are a great way to introduce someone to the evergrowing world of cannabis.

Pre-Rolled cones by Amazon – CC BY

Pre-rolled cones

Rolling cannabis is an art form that takes practice to perfect. Inexperienced smokers don’t have to worry about fumbling with papers and rolling them just right with pre-rolled cones. All they have to do is pack ground cannabis into the cone and it’s ready to smoke.

Conical Joint Tube by The Vital Store – CC BY

Reusable pre-roll containers

Reusable pre-roll containers (more often referred to as “doob tubes”) make carrying pre-rolls around much easier and safer. There’s nothing worse than arriving somewhere only to find that the pre-roll has broken or been crushed. Doob tubes are small containers that are just the right size for housing a pre-roll. They’ll stay safe and protected. Additionally, these tubes help hold in the scent, so cannabis pre-rolls stay fresh and fragrant until they’re ready to smoke.

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