Nowadays, medical marijuana is readily available in several forms from topicals and vape oils to edibles and tinctures. Still, the most preferred way of taking in medical cannabis is smoking dried flowers. When you breathe in medical marijuana, there’s an immediate impact due to the quick absorption of the active compounds found inside the plant.
A lot of consumers smoke medical marijuana through a joint. This is done by rolling their own medical cannabis cigarettes. This guide will instruct you on the proper method for rolling a joint.
Items You Need
For a better experience smoking medical marijuana, having all these items can make a difference:
- Dried Cannabis Flower - Required material for your joint
- Grinder - Contributes to an even burning of your joint and provides more ease in joint rolling
- Joint Paper - There are several sizes available with materials such as hemp and unbleached paper
- Card Stock - Essential to make the joint mouthpiece
- Pen - Helps in packing the joint, could be a different, but similarly shaped, material
Procedure for Rolling a Joint
There are several methods you can use when rolling a joint when consuming medical marijuana. Here’s a simple way to roll a joint:
- Crush the marijuana flower using a grinder or your fingers
- Use the thin card stock paper to create a joint mouthpiece
- In the joint paper, put the ground medical marijuana flower
- Roll the joint with your fingers
- Seal the joint closed by licking it
- Locate the tip of the joint and light it, turn it over in the flame
For beginners, it may sound confusing but more guidance will be given below to properly roll a joint. By repeating the 6 steps regularly, you’ll polish your joint rolling skills.
Breaking Up Medical Marijuana
Several ways are available to break apart the dried medical cannabis flower. You can use your fingers, cut it into pieces with a scissor or use a grinder. The latter makes the broken-up medical marijuana more even. This also allows for an even burning of your joint. For frequent medical cannabis consumers, grinders are essential tools.
Right Amount of Medical Cannabis to Break Up
You may ask what is the adequate amount of medical marijuana to break up for a joint. The average joint is 0.32 grams according to a published study in 2016. This figure, however, may or may not affect you.
When making up your mind on the portion of medical marijuana to include in your joint, consider your tolerance level. Ask yourself what effects you want to experience. Joint rolling papers come in a range of sizes. This means consumers are granted the freedom of preference when it comes to joint size.
Creating a Crutch For a Joint
A crutch is also known as the mouthpiece of a joint. It’s created to provide ease in holding. It allows the consumer to be comfortable with every draw. It also protects the lips from getting burned. Even if the whole joint is smoked, the medical cannabis pieces won’t touch your mouth.
One has the option of buying a crutch. Some shops offer them pre-rolled or ones that are fashioned to be molded into crutches. For those that want to create their own crutch, you can achieve it by using a thin card stock paper or an index card.
Tear a rectangle-shaped piece that is adequate as your mouthpiece. Fold in a series at the edge of the cardboard, looking like an accordion. Roll it to the thickness that you want for your joint.
Put Medical Cannabis in Joint Paper
Place the rolling paper in front of you. Your crutch should be located on your joint’s mouthpiece. Using your fingers, the pre-ground medical cannabis should be filling up the remainder of the rolling paper. Note that overfilling can lead to difficulty in closing the joint. If there’s extra paper, you can just trim it.
Rolling the Joint
When you’ve secured the crutch and ground medical cannabis in one place, you can start rolling the joint. This should be performed in an up and down movement so the medical marijuana is evenly compact.
Slowly position the ground medical marijuana in a cylinder shape. This makes it easy to roll and smoking it will be even. If the rolling of the joint is too loose, it can end up burning fast. If the rolling is too tight, taking a hit will be hard.
Licking and Sealing the Joint
On rolling papers, a sticky substance is placed on one corner so that when you moisten it, it will help in sealing it. Once you’re satisfied with the rolled joint, the adhesive strip must be licked. Seal the joint by thumbing down the sticky side of the joint. Locating the mouthpiece or crutch, you can apply more even pressure to seal the joint further.
The next step is to use a pen to pack the edge of the joint where you’ll be lighting it. It should be firm. Any medical cannabis that falls off can be picked up and added back. To keep the medical cannabis flower from being released, the edge of the paper should be twisted to seal the joint. Doing this a couple of times will make you more familiar with the process.
Lighting the Joint
A joint shouldn’t be treated like a cigarette. You shouldn’t breathe in while lighting the tip of the joint. What you should do is hold a flame to the joint’s tip to light it. You then turn it over in the flame so a burning ember appears at the tip of the joint. Move it closer until the joint presents a full and slow-burning ember. You can now begin to smoke medical marijuana.
Bottom Line
If you’re looking to smoke medical marijuana, following these steps will make rolling a joint easier. If you would like to get your medical marijuana card in Hawaii, contact Malie Cannabis Clinic.