New To Weed? This Is The Only Guide You Need

This article was originally published on The Fresh Toast and appears here with permission.

The internet is filled with marijuana facts. Here’s your one-stop for all the information you need.

Entering the world of cannabis without a guide can be confusing. Most people learn by trial and error, or with the guidance of a friend and mentor, who provides a guiding hand for most first-time experiences.

Fortunately, marijuana has never been easier to access. Even if you’re alone and intimidated, there are plenty of places to turn to for information, and many options available for first-timers, whether they’re interested in smoking, edibles, vaping, dabbing, and more.

What it does

There’s a lot to marijuana, but for starters, it’s a great tool for fun and for medication. People turn to weed to boost creativity, ease social anxiety, relax, work out, improve their focus, and more. The list is truly endless, with marijuana boosting your focus and fun and making your days more productive and like they last longer.

Marijuana can also be used to replace habits that harm your body, like consuming alcohol, smoking nicotine, and replacing the use of opiates and sleeping pills.

Medicinal effects

Medical marijuana is earning support from states all over the country. Research suggests that the plant can be used to control stress, provide pain relief, improve appetite, help people cope with ADHD and anxiety, and more.

It’s important to know that while many patients and doctors swear by marijuana’s effectiveness, there’s not enough research on the matter to prove that these results are definitive. The good news is that marijuana’s negative side effects, such as dry mouth, dizziness, and fuzzy brain are minor and temporary.

Types of marijuana

There are different types of marijuana and different compounds present in the plant. Sativa, indica, and hybrid strains are a category limited to the physical look of the plant, although a lot of cannabis users swear by its effects and how different they are. CBD is a cannabis compound but a lot of people consider it a type of marijuana.

Sativa stimulates the mind and senses, working best when paired with an activity, like working out, having a fun conversation, or doing anything energizing. Indicas stand on the other end of the spectrum, producing a relaxing and anxiolytic effect. Hybrid strains are a mix of sativa and indica, producing mixed results.

CBD is a cannabis compound, like THC. Unlike THC’s psychoactive effect, CBD is mostly medicinal. It produces no “high” feeling and results in long-lasting muscle, pain, and anxiety relief.

How to consume

Nowadays there are a million ways to consume cannabis. While there’s the traditional way of smoking marijuana (pipes, joints, and bongs), there are also tons of new options. With every new year, there are new vape pens, edibles, concentrates, and topicals. L

Vaporizers

These are discreet and comfortable, filled with cartridges that vaporize marijuana instead of combusting it, like joints and pipes. With a vape pen you won’t have to learn how to roll a joint or how to pack a bowl. They produce immediate effects that will stay in your body for a couple of hours.

Edibles

Pot brownies, gummies, and all sorts of weed foods purchased on dispensaries or through dealers enter this category. This method is discreet and takes its time to affect you with the THC entering your system through the stomach lining. If you’re a beginner it’s important to start with a low dose, preventing a bad high.

Topicals

All balms, lotions, creams, and patches fit this category. Topicals tend to produce results that won’t get you very high. Instead, they’re powerful medical tools, helping with pain relief, post-surgery recovery, and more.

Concentrates

These are cannabis extracts. They can be consumed through a vape pen or through a dab rig and can be consumed in the shape of wax, resin, and hash. When consumed via dab, the effects are strong and long-lasting.