The first time you walk into a dispensary with the intention of buying something to smoke, you will be faced with a very important decision. It’s a choice that every cannabis consumer is faced with at one point or another in their cannabis consuming career – a choice that might be difficult to make:
What’s the Difference Between Wax and Weed?
To wax or to weed? … That is the question. Or, at least, it’s the subject of this article.
When it comes to the debate over smoking wax or smoking flower (bud), people generally fall on one side of the fence or the other. It’s almost as divisive as the choice to use a Mac computer or a PC – it defines you as a cannabis consumer, relegates you to either the wax clan or the flower family. (But that’s not to say you can’t dabble a bit in both worlds.)
I’m not here to preach my opinion on which one is better, or more enjoyable. That’s a decision each and every stoner has to make for themselves. But, let’s take a moment to talk about the differences between wax and weed – because to a lot of people, this might sound like a bunch of ganja-gibberish.
The history and ritual behind consuming cannabis flower
When people think of marijuana they typically think of pretty green buds, dusted in THC crystals. This is the flower of the marijuana plant. When you grow a plant, the marijuana flower that appears at the top becomes the nugget that you then jam into a grinder, punch into a bowl and blaze up.
Flower may not be as potent as wax is, but what it lacks in power it makes up for in flavor, aroma and convenience. It is easy to carry with you and can be quickly packed or rolled into something smokable at a moment’s notice. It goes straight from the plant into your smoking device and then your bloodstream – no middlemen necessary.
Simply put, smoking cannabis flower is a classic weed ritual. In fact, if you ask many cannabis enthusiasts, you’ll be surprised to find that even the simple act of grinding up your buds can be therapeutic. Much like making the perfect meal, packing the perfect bowl or rolling a joint with your pals is a journey that bonds the user to the plant in a very special, very unique way.
The many names of cannabis concentrate
Called wax, shatter, crumble, resin, rosin, and more, cannabis concentrate is what happens when you give cannabis producers futuristic technology and legal autonomy to improve their cannabis products however they see fit. It’s a relatively new form of marijuana product, only having become popular in the last ten years.
Essentially, cannabis concentrate is an extremely condensed, extremely powerful version of the flower that comes off of the marijuana plant. In order to make it, flower is packed densely into a pressurized machine that is then blasted with butane. This series of processes effectively extracts the THC from the plant matter and what’s left is an insanely powerful concentrate form of THC that is similar to thick honey (or ear wax) in texture.
You’ll notice the difference as soon as you take that first rip off the wax dab rig. The effects from wax hit you way harder, way faster and get you much, much higher than flower. Which, makes sense because after the butane extraction process, what you’re left with is 80-95% THC – and if you take a fat rip of that stuff to the dome, you better remember to bring your space helmet. Because you’re headed to the stratosphere.
Cannabis concentrate vs. cannabis flower
Wax has a lot of other benefits, too. It is more discreet than flower because it’s natural odor is not as strong as flower’s is. It also comes in much smaller containers and doesn’t smell as dank when you burn it.
However, there are downsides. Wax is more expensive. It also requires special tools to smoke it. You can use a wax vape pen if you have one. Or, if you want to smoke it out of a bong, you have to get a dab rig and a blow torch… which makes the whole process look a little “harder” than it necessarily is.
Get Your Weed Questions Answered with Cannabition
If you want to learn more about the differences between wax and weed, there’s a special place in the heart of Las Vegas where you can. Cannabition, the world’s first mainstream cannabis museum is packed with facts on both flower and wax – it’s the go-to place for marijuana information.