Trying weed for the first time? Avoid these rookie stoner errors

The legalization of recreational cannabis is slowly but surely spreading across the United States. It sounds like the realization of a 1960s stoner’s vision of Utopia, but real life seldom quite measures up to our dreams.

The reality is that for every stoner out there happily and legally buying what he or she has probably been illicitly buying for years, there’s a would-be stoner buying grass for the first time with only the vaguest notion of what he or she is doing. If that scenario sounds familiar, read on. Let’s run through some of the most common stoner mishaps that are likely to befall novices, and how to avoid them.

Don’t rush it

Particularly common with those more accustomed to smoking tobacco is the huge error of smoking a joint all in one go in the space of five minutes. This is not a crafty cigarette outback while your boss/partner/parent is not looking!

Smoking a joint is more like smoking a cigar. It’s something to savor, and if it goes out, leave it that way and contemplate the world for a while. Chances are, you’re already high and if you relight it now, you’ll just be smoking for the sake of smoking.

Wood no good

Got a nice, ornate wooden box for storing your stash? That’s great, now do yourself a big favor and throw it on the fire. Wood is porous and therefore anything in it will not retain its moisture for long.

If you’re a grower and want somewhere to dry out your bud before curing, then a wooden box is just fine. If, on the other hand, you want to preserve your weed for smoking, then keep it simple with a glass mason jar or a sealable food container.

Rookie rolling errors

What could be easier than rolling a joint? Hold the paper with one hand, sprinkle in your weed with the other, right? Wrong. The problem comes when an unsteady hand or a gust of wind dumps the precious cargo all over the floor.

Those in the know use a “backroll” method to eliminate this risk entirely. Place the weed in a neat line in the palm of your left hand and then place the paper over it. Now flip it over and roll. No loss, no spillage!

Don’t waste those seeds

If you find a stray seed in your bud, it’s your lucky day. So don’t make the schoolboy error of throwing it away. Even if home cultivation is something you’re not considering, or that is prohibited where you live, there are still a hundred and one uses for cannabis seeds.

For example, you could make your own hemp milk or simply open up the seeds, remove the hearts and sprinkle them over your morning cereal. They won’t get you high, but they will give you a fantastic nutritional boost – there’s no better way of getting your day off to a flying start!