Tips for seniors who are considering CBD or THC

Seniors might give a bad rap to cannabis because growing up in the 1960s and 1970s, cannabis had a completely different culture. These days, cannabis is used more freely and research has proven a variety of different health benefits associated with cannabis whether it’s the THC or CBD form.

Regardless of how old you are, you’ve now heard of cannabis legalization and the booming industry behind it. Just look at sites like Weedmaps, which makes purchasing CBD or THC products much easier than the past, displaying thousands of storefront locations for cannabidiol. The US is not the only place where the industry is booming, however. Looking north of the border, CBD Oil Canada boasts many products, as well as convenient online shopping options for seniors looking to stay in.

While joints are the traditional form of smoking weed (and probably the most common), there are plenty of other ways to smoke cannabis, some of which are more potent than others, resulting in a stronger and longer-lasting high.

We’re going to stay away from edibles here and focus strictly on different ways to smoke. If elders are just getting into smoking, edibles might be a bit much of a leap.

Here are some alternative ways to smoking joints that seniors might even want to consider.

Vaporizer

A vaporizer (or a vape pen) is regarded as one of the healthiest ways to ingest marijuana. Vaporizers result in smokers inhaling the pure vapor of the marijuana and none of the smoke or debris that comes from the plant. If you’re a senior who can’t smoke anymore or gave up smoking, a vaporizer might be a smart alternative.

Because vaporizers heat up cannabis at a lower temperature, it preserves many of the ingredients inside the compound which would otherwise get burned off. Vaping keeps all the good stuff of the magical plant and essentially gets you high only from the smoke. You can relate the high to the feeling of being in a hot box and not smoking.

Consider that a regular butane lighter burns joints at almost 3,500ºF and cannabinoids only need to be heated at 284ºF to activate as a gas. So, vaporizers give you a healthier high (less heat on your lungs) without burning the valuable THC and CBD. Especially for elders with fragile lungs who probably wouldn’t want to inhale, vapes might be the smart go-to.

Pipe

Pipes come in a variety of styles and forms and can really do the trick to get your body a lot of cannabis in not a lot of time. Pipes come in the form of bowls and wooden pipes. Pipes are like mini versions of bongs without water. You simply fill the end with cannabis and light it resulting in the smoke to travel down a hollow tube (or pipe) and you can easily inhale it into your lungs. If you don’t have a pipe on hand, you can use an apple in a pinch by drilling a decent-sized hole into the apple and another one drilled into the top.

As a senior, you may have smoked tobacco out of a pipe before, cannabis is the same thing.

Pipes are smart because they are easy to carry around and very easy to use. Just ensure that your cannabis is finely grounded up before use. Some pipes have a hole on the side, known as a “choke.” If that’s the case, be sure to put your hand over it while lighting and then release it right before inhaling for an added kick.

Dabbing

Dabbing is arguably the most potent form of smoking. Dabbing uses the solidified hash oil and it’s smoked out of a pipe. The oil looks like hardened wax and instead of using a lighter, to dab you’re expected to use a torch lighter. Because you heat the oil so hot, dabbing is essentially flash heated cannabis and it goes right to your head.

Bubblers

Bubblers are essentially a mix of a pipe and a bong, maybe even the best of the two worlds. They’re tiny enough to transport and fit in your pocket, and strong enough to get you good and stoned like a bong. Bubblers are traditionally made from glass and have a rounded chamber at the bottom to generate smoke from water.

Water bottle

Plastic water bottles can be recycled into a pretty cool smoking tool. Poke a hole into one side of the bottle, place some aluminum foil on the moute piece (shaped like a bowl), poke a few holes into the aluminum foil, and you’ve got yourself a fully functioning makeshift smoking apparatus.

Others

It might not be exactly the typical way seniors would consider smoking but you could consider smoking out of an apple or a bong. Again, if you’re not comfortable with smoking in the first place, apples or bongs might not be the road you’d want to take but it’ll definitely give your grandkids and children a kick. It might even make you go viral.

Edibles are also a great way to ingest the benefits of CBD and THC. If you’re a senior, you might want to consider cooking up a batch of cannabis butter and/or cannabis oil to add to your cooking repertoire. While it takes longer to take effect, cooking with CBD cannabis has been proven to have a bevy of health benefits for seniors including reducing aches and pain, helping with depression and anxiety, and has even been known to help reduce cardiovascular problems.

So there you have it folks, easy to follow alternatives to smoking joints for seniors. You should understand that each different form of smoking can give off a different high so be weary. Pipes, for example, hit a lot harder than hauling a joint and you can’t really gauge how much cannabis you want to intake. Joints are pretty easy to decide how much you want to inhale but when it comes to bongs and pipes, it’s a bit harder to control how much of a hit you’re taking.