Ways to Consume Weed: Smoking, Vaping, Dabbing, Edibles and Sublinguals Compared

Ways to consume weed

The main ways to consume weed are smoking, vaping, dabbing concentrates, eating edibles and taking it sublingually (under the tongue). Smoking and vaping kick in within minutes and fade in a few hours, while edibles take longer to hit and can last much longer. Cannabis is one of the most popular herbs on the planet to smoke, vape or eat, and these days it's about medical use as much as recreational. 

There are thousands of strains out there with all kinds of cannabinoid and terpene profiles, and each one delivers a different experience. So if you're after a certain effect, it pays to know which kind to reach for: some are heavy on the head high, others on the body; some are loaded with THC, others lower in THC if you're going the medical route, and so on. 

When it comes to actually consuming it, you've got several methods to pick from, each with its pros and cons. Below we break down every way to consume cannabis, how long each one lasts and what kind of effects to expect, so you can dial in your experience.

1) Smoking

When you inhale smoke from cannabis flower or concentrates, the cannabinoids enter your bloodstream through the tiny air sacs (alveoli) in your lungs. The upside is that the effects show up fast and are easy to manage. 

Smoking gives you a lot of control over your high: you can go hit by hit until you find your sweet spot, wherever you feel most comfortable. Keep in mind that when you smoke, the effects kick in within minutes, peak after 10 to 30 minutes and can last up to three hours. You can smoke it in plenty of ways: joints, blunts, pipes, bongs or bubblers. 

The pros? It's easier to control how high you get, it's a social thing to share with friends, and for a lot of people it's just satisfying. The cons: combustion sends carcinogens into your lungs, it's not very discreet, and it's hard to pin down an exact dose. 

2) Vaping 

Vaping has become a big part of modern cannabis use, bridging the gap between weed and gadgets. There's a wide range of devices, from super simple ones to models with precise temperature settings and controls you run from a phone app.

The most basic models are usually made of metal and need a flame to work. High-tech devices, on the other hand, have a built-in heating element plus temperature controls and other settings you can adjust from your phone.

Whatever the tech, the core idea behind vaping hasn't changed: heat the weed less than smoking does. That comes with some perks, like being easier on your lungs and giving you more control over the effects.

When you vape, you can experiment with temperature and find the spots where different cannabinoids and terpenes evaporate, since you choose the heat setting yourself. 

3) Dabbing 

Dabbing means dropping a concentrate onto a red-hot nail. Concentrates carry far higher cannabinoid levels than buds, so the effects are a lot stronger.

Among the best-known concentrates are cannabis extracts, which are made by pulling the plant's compounds out with a solvent. They deliver a very potent high that lasts longer and hits harder than flower. Some of the most popular extracts for dabbing are shatter, wax, budder and crumble.

All extracts are concentrates, but not all concentrates are extracts. Solventless concentrates keep a bit more plant material in the final product (which some people would rather do without). That's the case with dry-sift hash, rosin, bubble hash and others.

The upside of concentrates: they hit extremely hard and fast, you need less material for a strong effect, and there's a huge selection with different textures to choose from. The downsides: a dab rig isn't very portable, you need to track down good-quality concentrates, and the high temperatures can release carcinogens. 

4) Edibles 

With edibles, cannabis's active compounds take a different route to your blood and brain: the digestive system.

After you eat a pot brownie, for example, the THC has a longer trip ahead: it has to pass through your gut and your liver. Along the way, before it crosses the blood-brain barrier, THC is converted into 11-hydroxy-THC.

This THC metabolite is known for producing a much more intense, longer-lasting high. Effects usually peak around 2 hours in. Some people feel them for up to 12 hours (with lingering aftereffects that can stretch into the next day).

There are lots of ways to eat, drink or otherwise take cannabis by mouth: cannabutter to add to your recipes, crystals, dissolvable strips you put on your tongue, bhang (an ancient Indian drink), kombucha, pills, gum and even weed coffee.

5) Sublingual 

Sublingual use means placing certain cannabis products under your tongue and holding them there for about a minute before swallowing, or until they dissolve. 

The appeal here is speed and discretion. Some of the best-known options are cannabis oil and CBD oil, crystals, oral sprays, tinctures and more. 

For a lot of people, consuming cannabis used to mean smoking it. But as you've seen, the cannabis world has a ton of options to suit every taste. So go ahead and try different methods, have fun experimenting, and notice how each one feels different. Start low and go slow with anything new. 

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