For me, smoking flower isn’t always about the high. It’s the ritual-- sitting down in peace, choosing my flower to match my mood, and rolling up. Much like a well-deserved glass of wine at the end of a very long day, it’s the reward of the thing itself that gives me more of a serotonin boost than the high… sometimes. It's looking forward to it all day that makes the energy surrounding it so rewarding.
But what else keeps me coming back to flower?
There’s something about this ritual I think only true smokers will really understand. The sticky fingers, the weed grinding, the aroma of the terpenes being released. Inspecting the trichomes, pulling apart the buds, crunching the nugs, rolling the filter and packaging it all up into a perfectly smokable unit.
Is it too far to call this a spiritual ceremony of sorts?
In this process I feel like I truly acknowledge cannabis for the incredible medicine that it is. From carefully selecting a strain for specific benefits, fully taking in her smells and wrapping a perfect vessel for which to receive this medicine-- it’s a very meditative process. It’s a process that brings me peace and is associated with happiness because I know what’s coming next. A time I look inward and tune out all of the noise from the day, a time I know is mine and only mine. A sacred time I know I will always have for myself and my spirit no matter how taxing life can become.
I feel my deepest sense of self when I’m high... and this little ritual which precedes the stoned, warm feeling I know all too well is what rounds out the experience to be so fulfilling.
The selection of flower available to me in California is what made me a true stoner. Trust me, I was already a stoner before, but there was absolutely nothing like having a vast array of strains to choose from when I was getting the Snicklefritz in Lawrence, KS for 4 years. I was awed and mystified that I could walk into a shop, choose from up to 30 strains at any given time, and medicate for whatever my desired reason. That’s what makes me a flower addict. Sure- you can find strain-specific edibles, vapes and concentrates, but smoking a strain in its natural form is it for me. Straight from the soil, this is a REAL FLOWER! A nug is literally a dried flower that grew off of a female plant. INSANE! How insane is nature. I could nerd out on this forever, but to add to the importance of cannabis in its natural state is the entourage effect we get from it in flower form.
"THE ENTOURAGE EFFECT" is the theory that numerous cannabis compounds work together to create the unique & varying effects that ultimately determine one’s high. For example, the broad range of cannabinoids (CBD, CBG, CBN, THCv, THC, etc.) as well as terpenes (Linalool, Myrcene, Pinene, Limonene, etc.) present in the flower’s structure all work together in delivering the final product-- what you feel. In my experience, this “theory” couldn’t be more of a fact. One easy way to test this theory is to take an isolated THC concentrate hit vs. a puff of flower. If you have experimented with both consumption methods more than a couple of times, the difference in the high should be easy to point out. You will notice that a concentrated, singular THC high (any product made with distillate-- vape, concentrate or edible) will really just get you stoned-- providing that heady, hazy, mellowed out feeling. In contrast, a flower high will provide a much more well-rounded experience, usually delivering a body high and offering a wider range of feelings dependent on terpenes & cannabinoids present, like: boosted creativity & energy, increased arousal or reaction to physical touch, a greater sense of connectedness and wonder in your environment and with others, more patience and understanding, peacefulness and ability to calm the mind, among many, many more.
That being said, this is what keeps me coming back to flower:
The extremely wide range of feelings & reactions that are available to me through the full-spectrum plant. When you find one strain that really works for you, there is nothing like it. It’s like a portal has opened up to experience life on a frequency you didn’t know possible. Sure, sometimes it’s a gamble. You left the dispensary with a strain that’s high in Limonene and that terpene just doesn’t agree with you. But you will never hit that sweet spot if you’re not open to tasting the whole rainbow. If you’re newer to this process and find it frustrating to keep spending money on different strains you aren’t positive you will like-- try purchasing single grams or .5g pre-rolls of various strains to see how you react to things before splurging on the full 1/8th.
Remember that the Budtender is your guide and if you ask them for strains that are similar to one that has worked for you in the past, 80% of the time they will steer you in the right direction. These people are so obsessed with the plant, trust them, they basically just smoke for a living.
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