[infiniteawesome]

The different ways one can intake mj into one's system:

1. Joints and Blunts: Joints and blunts are usually the first thing one smokes mj out of vaporizor, and a bong was tested. The joint came in second next to the vaporizor, with the bong being the least effective smoking instrument. This contradicted many of the assumptions that had been established in the cannabis smoking community for decades. Considered by the cannabis community to be the most inefficient way of intaking mj into one's system, a pipe, water pipe, or vaporizor is usually purchased. In a recent test that has been published on erowid, the thc content of mj smoke put through a joint, a vap, and a bong was tested. The joint ended up second next to the vaporizor.

My theory is that this test was probably done incorrectly, though they came to a half-truth of results. While a badly rolled (loosely rolled) joint burns so quickly that much of the bud is wasted, a well rolled joint or blunt can be classified under a different story. This is mainly due to the fact that a well rolled joint burns so slowly, that a minimal amount of thc is burning off, and most likely, its particulate matter before the thick resinous thc burns off the end: this is why well rolled joints will unexpectadely go out in between inhaling breaths, the oil literally extinguishes the fire.

So, why isn't everybody smoking joints and blunts rather than out of pipes or bongs?

This is mainly due to two simple drawbacks that come with rolling a joint or a blunt:

1. In order to place weed into a joint or blunt, it must be broken down either with one's hands or an herb grinder. While the herb grinder is very efficient, alot of the thc is lost either to the bottom of the grinder (kief), or into the air. If broken up by hand, the particulates are rubbed off on the fingers, never to be seen again most likely, even if one licks his fingers after rolling one.
2. The high that is felt by one who has smoked a joint (as opposed to other smoking methods) will usually find his high to be mild and long lasting. This is due to the lack of any chambering of the smoke. Thus, the high is very mild, smooth, and long lasting. Those seeking to use less bud for a more intense high will find himself disappointed with a joint, but those who want a mild intoxication that will last them three to four hours (seven to eight if its good shit), as opposed to the two to three hours (five to seven if its good shit) felt per bowl.

2. Wood, Metal, stone, and glass pipes. Also, Chillums.
Metal pipes have been generally advised against as they add to the terrible consequences that come with smoking in general. Only less dangerous than smoking out of a tin foil joint, metal pipes are made usually with aluminum, but also can be found in steel, bronze, and rarely i've seen copper. All these have their problems, and should not be smoked out of. While steel is perhaps the least dangerous of all smoking metals, it can still melt over time and relase metal particulates into your lungs, creating small cuts and nicks along the lung's linings, as well as integrate itself into your blood stream, creating various types of poisonings to your lungs, circulatory system, and brain.
Stone pipes have lost popularity since the era of glass pipes began. But still, a stone pipe is iffy in terms of health. Some particulates of various metals and minerals are bound to come with taking a flame to the herb. Nonetheless, when compared to the easily meltable wares of metal pipes, stone pipes are a better choice. Usually a stone is placed somewhere in the pipe chamber to act as a deterrent from the ash that one is bound to inhale when not using a filter.
Wooden pipes are also in that "iffy" category. While, when given the proper sealants, wood will not burn under the persistance of flame, wooden pipes are generally meant to be used by those smoking tobacco, not marijuana, as tobacco continues to burn at a less intense temperature than weed, it does not need constant re-inflamation and has a much lesser probability of burning particulates of wood into the smoke. Unfortunately it is of my opinion that smoking out of wood is probably still as bad for one as smoking out of metal, seeing as wood is more easily combustable, even with the fireproof varnishes etc.
Glass pipes are the cleanest way of smoking out of anything without a filter (one can put a metal filter in the bowl, and while this prevents larger particulates of ash to fly into one's lungs, it is also burning metal, and contains, on a lesser scale, the same problems as smoking out of a metal pipe).

The effects of smoking out of a pipe without a carb and with a carb are extremely different in quality. When smoking out of a glass pipe, a carb is usually placed on the bowl or near the bowl. The carb is a small hole that when covered, creates a vacuum of air that pulls the flame down the mj and into various chambers where it eventually reaches the lungs. When the user feels he has had enough, he removes his finger from the carb which pulls air under the bowl and clears the various chambers of the smoke, thereby very literally "shooting" the remaining smoke into one's lungs. Metal pipes usually don't have carbs and are thus, less effective imo.

This shooting of the lungs with thc packed smoke is very important imo because it causes a very different kind of high to happen. The bigger the chambers, the larger amount of smoke is consumed when one is "shot." This blast of thc causes your lungs to have a greater denisty of tch rich smoke. When this happens, the lungs integrate more thc at a faster rate. Thus your body feels the need to focus its energy on converting that delta-9 thc to delta-8 faster. This bodily reaction can be the explanation for an increased blood pressure while high. Most important to note, however, is that the high will not last as longer because less time was taken for the integration of thc, causing your body to react faster to it.

This is why a joint high will be milder (due to no chamber) but will last longer (due to the slower integration of thc into the body).

I would like to make special notes about chillums. The chillum is the simplest pipe, usually made out of stone, where the bowl is not perpendicular to the stem, thus when one smokes out of it he tilts his head back and holds the chillum above him. Usually flame is administered to the chillum by somebody else, as in this position, the smoker will find it more difficult to direct the flame over the bowl. The act of smoking out of a chillum is, imo, a touch more dangerous than smoking out of a glass pipe. This is due to the fact that even gravity is working against you now, the ash is falling through the pipe and into your lungs rather than catching as it tries to raise up out of the pipe, it simple accumulates along the walls of the chillum and lands into your lungs. I consider this to be a slightly inferior method of smoking since it is no better than smoking out of a glass pipe.

4. Hookahs, bongs, water pipes, and bubblers.

Most of the above instruments use water as a filter (i'm not sure about hookahs, i'm relatively unfamiliar with the difference between them and bogns save for their multiple stems for communal use).

Some bongs do not contain even a single chamber for the smoke, it simply has a long tube for drawing through the smoke. This is preferable to some and mainly an aesthetic choice. Bongs with large chambers, however, shoot more smoke at one's lungs. I remember my first time out of a bong hurt like a bitch due to the fact that my lungs had never had so much smoke in them at once. This, as explained above, is more efficient at getting one fucked up FAST than any other method due to the large amount of smoke being consumed and consequently SHOT at you.

Drawing the smoke through the water has been known to remove half of the carcinogens and a varying amount (based on the study) of tar. While it is still smoking, it is less likely to cause you harm and has almost no particulates due to the fact that they fall into the water or a trap of some kind before they even begin to make their way to your mouth, let alone your lungs.

Some drawbacks of the bongs are:

1. The high is usually a creeper, suddenly your sobre, a little high, and then BAM, your fucked up. This may not be desirable to those who do not wish to become "too high." in which your body has an increased blood pressure due to the large amount of delta 9 thc that needs to be converted over to delta 8. This can be resolved by simply gauging one's high, and remembering that the escalating factor of smoking lasts longer than during the smoking session.
2. The water itself does remove some thc, though, it is, imo, minimal when compared with the increased cleanliness, and smoothness, as well as efficiency of the water pipe, bong, or bubbler.
3. The high will be short, due to the chamber "shooting you." and the fast intake regarding the smoking method.
4. Bong water is extremely stinky due to all the oils, carcinogens, and tars floating around in it that would usually go into your lungs. Changing it can be difficult at times due to the inconspicuous nature one must maintain when dealing with paraphenalia.
5. Bongs, especially large ones, can be awkward to handle and may break easily depending on the quality of the piece itself. Usually not for stoning while traveling.

5. Vaporization.
The safest and most efficient way of intaking thc into onself is through the vaporizor. By heating the bud, hash, or oil, one slowly removes the thc trichomes (capilate stalks, membranous tissue and all) from the bud and floats it in a vaporized format. In this way, one can get nearly every last trichome off the bud without burning it and creating carcinogens, not to mention burning off thc with flame.

Interestingly enough, many people do not like vaporization when compared to smoking. Claiming that the vaporization method is too weak. This is due to one of two problems: either they weren't using it properly or perhaps created it improperly; OR the bud using had extremely low amounts of thc attached to it. There is also one other theory I have about this that I will go into later.

My theory is that the truly efficient way of intaking thc into the body is to vaporize efficiently and to not use bud, or a specific type of bud anyway (which I will go into later). Now, if one places a low thc bud into the vaporizor, the amount of other particulate matter in the vapor when compared to thc and cannabinoids would be extremely low, thus no effect save for a marijuana tasting hit would come from the vaporizor. Thusly, hash or hash oil would be a better candidate for smoking product when choosing what to place into one's vaporizor.

Now, I will go into what I mentioned before: Different types of buds MAY be the reason that vaporization techniques fail for some and not for others. The reason is that THC trichomes have two variations when manifesting themselves on the bud of cannabis. Some are curled, and others straight. When making finger-rubbing hash, the ancient hindus found that certain kinds of cannabis plants were better suited for higher quality hash. These plants were those containing curled thc trichomes which had less capillate stalks along with their membranous thc containing head within the hash.) This may be the reason that vaporization techniques are more effective with certain kinds of herb and others not. During vaporization, the heads are attempting to pull off the capillate stalks, but if straight, there is more resistance between the heads and the stalks, thus perhaps, much of the thc remains on the bud during vaporization. This has nothing to do with the quality of the bud or the method being used, but rather simply the KIND of bud placed within the vaporizor. This of course, is entirely up to speculation seeing as this is a THEORY.

6. Oral Consumption.
Ah, the old fashion, pick it off the tree routine. There are many different ways of consuming cannabis, but none of which are as efficient, imo, as vaporization, though it may be just as efficient as smoking.

Consuming pure bud, is of course, not the preferable way of consuming cannabis for many reasons. Many complain of the taste being strange and unappatizing. This, however, is not the major reason why you shouldn't go out and buy a dime bag and dump it in your mouth. This is mainly due to the fact that your stomache will filter all but extremely large amounts of bud seeing as THC is an oil and will be filtered out as it procedes through your digestive track. And even if one manages to find himself high, the trip will last extremely long as your digestive track SLOWLY leaks out the thc that manages to get through your system, and if too much was taken, one can much more easily consume the amount of thc to overdose than if he were to smoke it. Some reports have been found of those who had consumed too much hash oil orally, and had to go the hospital to have their stomaches pumped and strong anti-oxidants and high metabolism-inducing agents administered to them for actually "ODing on pot." This of course, is a rarity seeing as very few of even the most bravado stoner has even seen hash oil, let alone consumed large quantities of it orally.

Consuming bud as a tea has been a long controversy in terms of purity. While some of the cannabinoids in marijuana manifest themselves as water-soluble alkaloids, most psychoactive compounds, mainly thc, manifest themselves in marijuana as oils, and thus, are not water soluble. Those who claim to getting high off of cannabis tea would do well to look at the surface of what they are drinking. If they did they would realize they're simply getting high off the surface of their tea, and not their drink itself.

Placing bud in baked items directly (flowers, stems, etc.) will find himself wasting alot of weed. This is why so much weed is placed into baked goods. While these baked goods will get you stoned, alot of the thc is wasted in the baking process as it is vaporized or burned off into the air. At the same time, alot of the oils break away from the bud itself and soak into the baked good. So its actually a toss up, come to think of it. Who knows?

Placing hash into baked goods is the best way of placing pot into baked goods as long as it is broken down into a powder first. The hash will cook and release small amounts of thc but due to its condensed nature, most of it will seep into the baked good.

Hash oil is, of course, the most effective as long as it is mixed in as an ingredient and not used as a cooking oil. In other words, don't fry anything with thc in it or you'll be vaping your high into your kitchen.

Milk, some have said, makes fantastic bong water. I have never personally tried this, but I believe that this is probably about as efficient as water. The fats in milk, however, would probably pick up some of the thc, so please keep that in mind. Milk used as the dilutant for a cannabis tea may be better than water as it would absorb some of the thc more evenly. The same can be said even more so for soy milk, which contains larger amounts of essential oils than regular milk.

Whatever one does, do not use alcohol as bong water. Alcohol, though it adds a nice flavor to the smoke, also absorbs a good amount of thc, which bonds to the various hops, barleys, and other various ingredients used in the process of making alcohol. This is why many people like to create tinctures out of their cannabis and high proof alcohol.

Using the highest proof alcohol to create cannabis tinctures is important, but remember that it must also be very pure. Whisky, rum, and tequila are probably not the best hard liquors to use to create a tincture with because they have more ingredients involved in its making than say, gin or vodka. While drinking your high and your krunk may sound fun, remember that cannabis, in any format, lowers your immunity and combined with alcohol can double this problem. THC has a very specific reaction with the liver, temporarily stunting its ability to process certain toxins, one of which is alcohol. Thusly, drinking a high proof cannabis tincture is not exactly safe in large quantities, so make sure you put some high quality cannabis in there so as to not to want to go back for more later, or simply watch how much you drink.

Well, that's all I've got to say about the various ways of intaking cannabis and cannabis products, hope this helps.