Want to learn how to vape weed? It’s one of the best options to consuming cannabis, as it’s a healthier and more intense way to experience being high. Especially compared to smoking. Inhaling combustibles of any sort is inadvisable for the health of your lungs. Yes, smoking a joint is WAY less harmful than smoking cigarettes. But if you can get high without ‘smoking’ at all, why not go that route? Most vapour is 95% smoke and carcinogen free.
Truth is, there’s really not much to learning how to vape weed. But, there are some really useful tips about how to use your vaporizer to best effect, and it’s very true that some vaporizers are better than others. So let’s get started.
Smoking marijuana exposes the cannabinoids in the bud to much higher temperatures than are necessary to activate and release them, and a significant percentage of the cannabinoids are wasted because it’s burning at a much higher temperature than necessary. So, smoking marijuana actually leads to much of the THC being wasted.
A study conducted by NORML (National Organization for the Reformation of Marijuana Laws) in the US found that vaporizers convert around 46% of THC into vapour, while the average joint converts less than 25%. I don’t know about you, but for me as a cannabis enthusiast that’s more than convincing enough to go vape from here on out.
Types of Vaporizers
We’ll get to the actual methods of how to vape weed in a moment here, but let’s first lay out the different types of vaporizers. That’s necessary because there are different approaches to using vaporizers depending on which type it is.
There are 3 types of vaporizers:
- Desktop vaporizers
- Portable vaporizers
- Vape pens
Vape pens are primarily used for concentrates or e-liquids. While that’s a totally viable option, today we are going to focus on how to vape weed. Desktop and portable vaporizers can be for both concentrates and dried marijuana, but with both types concentrates are typically placed in a glass ‘jar’ that fits into the atomizer chamber to keep the resin from fouling it up.
All 3 will either be conduction or convection vaporizers. Using a conduction vaporizer involves your herbs sitting on a metal plate and then heated to vaporize the cannabinoids. The benefit of them is that they are lower-priced devices with very fast warm up times. However, stirring of the weed between draws is often required to get consistently good quality vapes.
Using a convection vaporizer makes use of forced air. A flow of hot air is passed through the plant material to vaporize the cannabinoids. Convection vapes are superior for dry herb as they allow more accurate temperature control and even heating of product. They are more expensive generally and take longer to heat up, but the higher prices are worth it if you want the best vaping experience.
How to Vape Weed
Knowing the best temperature for vaping weed is important. When discussing how to vape weed, most experienced enthusiasts agree that ‘cranking’ your vape up to max temperature isn’t the best way to go. Instead, it’s best to go to a moderately high temperature and then decrease it incrementally as you go through it. Further, different temperatures will promote better vaporization of certain cannabinoids within the marijuana:
- THC – ideally around 315 degrees F
- CBD – ideally around 356 degrees F
Steps:
- Ensure the marijuana is entirely dry.
- Grind it into a fine consistency – increasing surface area and allows heat to pass through more efficiently for better vapour.
- Many higher-end convection vapes will come with an oil jar and / or screen – if you’re packing a small quantity of marijuana place the jar on top of your ground herb to create a better density in the chamber and improve the consistency and thickness of the vapour. Some users also find that placing it on a screen above the atomizer element works similarly.
- Either plug in or activate your vaporizer with the power on button.
- Choose the temperature you want, heeding the temperature guidelines shared above.
- Allow vaporizer to reach temperature, and then take your first draw.
Balloon Bag Desktop Vapes
These types of vapes, the most famous being the Storz & Bickel Volcano, is a little different to use so we’ll wrap it up today with a brief how-to for them. The steps are the same as above, but with a few important added ones. So here’s what you do:
- Snap your balloon bag in place after filling the chamber with your cannabis and before activating the vaporizer.
- Now activate the vape and watch as the balloon fills with vapour. Fill it as much as is needed for you or others enjoying with you.
- Once filled, turn off the vape and snap off the balloon bag.
- Add the mouthpiece to the bag and take your vape.
Typically you won’t inhale the entirety of it at once, and the nice thing about the bag is it will hold the vapour in when the mouthpiece is not open. Keep in mind though that the vapour will on hold its strength and flavour for about 10 minutes.
