To eat or to vaporize?

I will agree with every point you make, and that there is no question that vaporizing is superior to smoking aside from the fact that it requires a bit more equipment.
One of the benifits you don't mention about ingestion is that it is much more healthy on your system - (no smoke to inhale)
Here is one drawback as I see it:
with smoking a good product, it may take only one hit and you're there. if I ingested that tiny ammount, I doubt that I would feel anything. you have the advantage over the rest of us that you live in a country where it is legal and can be purchased over the counter. If I could find hash around here, I would buy it for almost any price. so the rest of us have to work with leaf.
I have a grinder and my thoughts were to grind up a bunch and capsulate it and try out different quantities. Regardless, I'm sure it will take a much larger volume of product to reach the same level.

I agree with the advantages and disadvantages Helixer describes. Here are some others.

Vaporizing has the advantage of being much more economical. Smoking burns a portion of the THC, where vaporizing does not. My subjective sense is that I get about twice the value with the vaporizer. This can make up for the cost of a vaporizer. As for use with Aneros, I think that eating is generally superior in the ways that Helixer describes. Although I've read that the liver is involved with metabolizing the THC (with possible health effects), where it is not when the THC is taken in through the lungs.

Vaporizing is nice in that it is clean and nearly odorless. Since I started vaporizing I find smoking very unpleasant. The flavor is more subtle when it is not contaminated by the smoke, and I never have the slightest desire to cough when vaporizing.

Occasionally I will have an opportunity for a brief Aneros session without much warning. Obviously vaporizing has the advantage in that situation.

Eating has the advantage of allowing use of less desirable parts of the plant. I grind leaves, dissolve the THC in butter, then use the butter to bake cookies. The folks I know who grow usually just throw away the leaves. Of course it is a lot more work to eat if you bake cookies. As an easy alternative you can just spread the butter on toast but I find the flavor slightly disagreeable. Baking covers up the flavor.

I'm not sure about thhn's concern about quantity needed in eating. I have a great reluctance to experiment using a primo bud for fear he might be right. I have tried capsules, but I find them mildly disagreeable in the stomach. I also have a sense that the body has a better opportunity to absorb the THC when it is dissolved in the fat.

Vaporizing is nice for all of the reasons already stated. I don't have one, so I gladly smoke it, though if I had a vaporizer, I would certainly use it. While I agree that eating provides a high that is really pretty remarkable when combined with prostate massage, I don't think it's all that practical, at least for me. I like the immediacy of smoking and then going for super O's. Waiting a couple of hours takes up a serious chunk of time in addition to the session. I also find that I am baked for hours after ingesting, so again, this this poses a problem if I want to have any hope of being productive that day.

@thhnYou have to be more specific, how many grams? I'll normally cut a 'mergpijpje'(an oblong shaped marzipancake)in the breadth thru the middle and then after putting approximately what I'd used to put in a joint I'll spread over the mergpijpje I merge the 2 halves and then just slide it thru my throat. I really don't use any more than I used to put in a joint, only the effect is much better
But you're right about hash, best hash imo is a good polm from Marocco. I once chose a hash that was twich as expensive as the Polm, but the Polm was still no 1.For me and my Aneros needs at least Polm is better
There are sites on internet that show you how to make you own hash as well, one variant(although I haven't tried yet myself) is meant to make the hash extremely potent. It's called Ice-O-later, expensive to buy but suited if you or someone else knows a place with cannabisplants, then the good buds for sale and the rest used for the I-O-L
I agree I'm very fortunate.Still if I didn't live where I live, knowing what I know, I'd definitely be willing to travel to experience this effect. Better in some shitty hotel in some backstreet of Holland with some top grade hash going crazy with your Aneros than some exotic holiday!

@MultiD:Yeah something indeed goes on in the liver, the thc gets transformed from delta 9 to delta 11, apparently 5x more psychoactive!!!!
http://www.thc-ministry.net/cannabisinfo.htm
As far as healthrisk goes I'd like to remind you that mj has been used for 1000s of years for its medicinal properties.
In Canada there was somebody who'd made an anticancer medicine, cured countless terminal patients but now being prosecuted.After all what's Big Pharma gonna say about that?:"What no intellectual property rights?Nothing to sell at 10000s%profitmargins? Let's ban this fuckin plant!"
YouTube - dialoguequent's Channel

But yeah I agree with Waverider and MultiD you will have to have time to do it and if you don't even want to come for hours on end then this method is also not for you.

Anyway, so as far as cost and health are concerned I'm not convinced that vaporizing is much better, especially considering the pros of ingesting when used with the Aneros

@thhnYou have to be more specific, how many grams? I'll normally cut a 'mergpijpje'(an oblong shaped marzipancake)in the breadth thru the middle and then after putting approximately what I'd used to put in a joint I'll spread over the mergpijpje I merge the 2 halves and then just slide it thru my throat. I really don't use any more than I used to put in a joint, only the effect is much better
/QUOTE]

I have no idea what a merefpipje is?
you always talked about eating hash, so I assumed that is what you were talking about. I made a nice purchase of some premo stuff a while back and one hit is all you need. a full joint would be a waste.
If I were to ingest the ammount that one hit would consist of, I doubt that I would feel anything?
Don't get me wrong... I think you method is superior given the right set of conditions
1. that you have sufficient product and 2. that you have sufficeint time.

I wasn't so specific about what I ate only for your sake(if you decided to take a vacation in Holland for example), I thought it might be helpful for my fellow countrymen.
How do you know it would be a waste if you had enough to make a joint, to use that quantity to grind and eat instead?Still, it's strange Nederweed being superior in potency to hash that the one time I ate it it didn't even feel nearly as good as polm.

Anyway,I think you're probably right. If only the dealers in your country could come by some Polm, or perhaps fluid thc would be even better, it would be easier to conceal as authorities wouldn't be expecting it to be in this form and it could be easily applied to a variety of culinary dishes

Slightly off topic...
But the youtube link Helixer gave, is for an independent movie called "Run from the Cure". And it is fascinating, and eye opening. I watched it a number of months ago and was very impressed. Along similar lines as this is: "High: The true tale of American Marijuana". Which talks a lot about the source of USA policies for prohibiting weed, and arguments for making it legal. It's free to watch on hulu.com, but unfortunately this is only for people with IP addresses within the USA.

Hulu - High: The True Tale of American Marijuana - Watch the full feature film now.

Everyone outside of the USA will likely have to rent it through youtube.com.

Even more off topic, but just as controversial:
The Future of Food

This link is for everyone outside of the USA:
The Future of Food - Trailer

{Edit} - The link above shows as trailer. But is the full length video.

For people within the USA, here's an alternate hulu.com link. Their servers may be faster:
Hulu - The Future Of Food - Watch the full feature film now.

Peace & Love

I confess I've never really tried taking only one 'hit' when I still smoked joints. If one hit is enough to take you into Super O territoria, then a vaporizer would indeed be very enticing, coz from that point it's selfsustaining almost.

What type of vaporizer is best?

I confess I've never really tried taking only one 'hit' when I still smoked joints. If one hit is enough to take you into Super O territoria, then a vaporizer would indeed be very enticing, coz from that point it's selfsustaining almost.

What type of vaporizer is best?

I looked at several models when I bought one and ended up getting a da buddah
I have been very happy with it

I looked at several models when I bought one and ended up getting a da buddah
I have been very happy with it

I have not done any vaporization yet, but I am looking to try it. I've been looking at the very tiny Magic Flight Launch Box, as my first choice. It's cheap, and seems to do the job, according to many reviews.

I have done a bunch of experimentation with edibles, and I'll summarize here why I'm also looking to switch to vaporizing:

1) The needed dose for a newbie like me is WAY smaller than is written on the package. 1/4 of a cookie had me way too high for way too many hours. While I was on the way up, though, I must say that every square inch of my body caused an orgasm when touched. Every step was a continuous orgasm in my legs. All of this without Aneros. Unfortunately, this turned out to be unpleasant for me, since it was way more than I bargained for, and went on for far too long. (Be careful what you ask for! 🙂 It's been hard for me to get the dosage right on edibles, at least so far.

2) The dose I'm working with right now is about 1.5 grams of brownie. Not 1.5g of cannabis -- 1.5 grams of brownie, a slice that is about the size and thickness of a US Quarter (!). The brownie is listed as "10X", meaning that one brownie (about 67grams) is 10 doses. The 1.5 grams is just a sliver (it's laughably small!), but it definitely has a major positive effect on my prostate, and the overall effect is relaxing and not stupid-making. For me, this edible dose starts kicking in after about 2 hours, and the effect peaks at about 4-5 hours. Effect is gone in 5-6 hours.

3) I'm also looking to try vaporizing, because I think the effect will kick in much sooner, and will end much sooner, allowing me to control the dose and timing much more accurately. And, it won't require reserving an entire evening for an Aneros experiment.

4) I am also looking to have less of what's called the "body high", which to me feels like a lot of buzz, without much prostate action. I've switched to Sativa edibles (as opposed to Indicas) for that reason, too. The Sativa has just as much prostate action, but without the heaviness of the Indicas. I have read that vaporizing is more of a "head high", which I suspect would be closer to what I'm looking for. Your mileage may vary here, based on how your own body reacts.

HTH,
CM

I've been using the Herbalaire 2.1, and I'm very happy with it. I did a fair amount of research before my purchase, and here are some factors that affected my decision:

1. Made in Canada (not China) with a manufacturer's guarantee of medical grade materials. I know I can't be certain of the truth of those claims, but It was still a factor.
2. Offers both a direct draw as well as a forced air balloon option.
3. Analog temperature control. I like the simplicity of a single dial that I just twist to the desired mark.
4. Herb does not contact a hot surface. Doesn't vaporize except when the air flows.
5. Turns itself off after 30 minutes.

A number of other things I like after having used it:

1. Precision engineering and use of high-quality components. Every time I load the thing I enjoy the way the crucible fits in its container.
2. It has a clear cover on the bottom. Red LEDs on the circuit board give a nice red glow under it as it sits on a table. It looks cool, but also lets you see that it's on from any angle and across the room.
3. The air pump is easily connected/disconnected. I find I almost always use the direct draw, but it's nice to be able to fill a balloon to pass around when sharing.

I'm sure it would come as no surprize to anybody that there is a forumn, just like ours, about vaporizors?
before I bought mine, I joined the forumn and read many, many posts.
not sure of the name anymore but I would imagine a search would bring results

What do you guys think of the Vapezilla?
I like the fact that it has a ceramic heating element and the temperature can be digitally adjusted, it is a little pricey though,nearly twice as expensive as the Buddha

BTW: @MultiD how safe is Teflon as heating element? Some say it might be toxic

How often do you have to replace the accessoires?

Teflon is not part of the heating element on the Herbalaire. The mouth piece and the piece the mouthpiece fits in are Teflon. My understanding is that Teflon gets into the system only after it gets over-heated, as a teflon pan left too long on a stove. The Teflon in the Herbalaire is only exposed to temperatures up to about 400 degrees Fahrenheit (I set mine to about 350). The Teflon parts closest to the heater get warm, but not so hot that I can't touch it and leave my fingers on it. I'm guessing it's at most 150 degrees. I can't say that the Teflon is safe, because I don't know. I can say that there is no taste or odor associated with the Teflon and I FEEL safe.

I haven't had to replace any of the accessories, and they all still look perfect. I've used it nearly every day for about three months. I cleaned the mouth piece and stem in alcohol once. I've only used the balloon a few times. I expect it will be good for at least 30 uses, and my understanding is that turkey roasting bags work.

Hey folks, 🙂

I've got a few thoughts concerning this...
Goto your local reputable head shop (if available in your area) and discuss this with the employees there. They typically know and will stock only good devices, as they don't want to see them returned. Plus you get to see and feel them to get an idea of what is quality built. My example being that many years ago I bought a vaporizer from the Internet sight unseen that was an upright cylindrical plastic device with an enclosed ceramic disc to hold the weed and a vinyl hose coming off of it. And it didn't work very well, and you had to take a whole bunch of hits before you started to feel anything. I didn't enjoy using it. It would have been much less work to smoke the weed. Where as a few years back I tried a vaporizer that some friends purchased locally at a head shop and was very impressed with the quality of build and how well it worked. The first hit I knew instantly I was getting a good dosage of vapor. One or two hits was plenty for me. I don't know the make/model specifically, but it looked very much like the Vaporbrothers Hands Free Vaporizer. It has a nice wood casing with an all glass container for the weed, with a hose coming off it, and a single temperature dial. Very simple and well put together. After my own experience I'd be reluctant to buy these fancy, portable, digital, plastic made vaporizers. It's a fairly expensive investment to get one that is a pain to use and doesn't work well. Thought you might want to know...

Love_is

Thanks for the feedback guys

A few questions still:

I like the idea that different parts of the weed have different heating temperatures, low-mid-high, aroma-cannaboids(high)-thc(stoned), so you could for example get high and the residu would be thc? (that you could eat) Is this true? and if so, what does it look like?
(I'd be a little worried if it was in the form of asch, coz that's meant to cause cancer as well or so they warn you not to eat burned stuff in barbecues etc)
And if you can get stoned from one inhalation and it's enough for many hours of Super O, what about the weed remaining, how long can you keep that in the vaporizer/what do you do with that?

I don't think a vaporizer will make a good high from bad weed. Doesn't work that way for me. Nor would it take ok weed and get you wicked stoned on one hit.
I did read about someone useing the remaining ash for cooking, but there isn't all that much remaining ash and it doesn't look very attractive to me.
I would forget about that part. typically, you don't pack that much weed into a vaporizer (at least not the one i have). I don't see why that if you didn't smoke all that was in there, that it wouldn't be just fine for the next time.

The weed that comes out of my vaporizer is not ash. I find that it changes to a medium brown color and smells completely different when it comes out, but otherwise is unchanged. If I put a bud in, I get a bud out. I've heard you can smoke or cook with the result but I haven't tried that. I understand that many vaporizer instructions say you should grind the weed, the instructions for my vaporize specifically says NOT to grind. I've tried both ways and I can't tell the difference.

I'm reluctant to use the residue for cooking. I'm afraid that its potency will not be sufficient and that it would adversely affect the flavor of my cookies. I hate to waste a batch when I know my current technique is effective and already uses plant material that is unfit for smoking.

The weed that comes out of my vaporizer is not ash. I find that it changes to a medium brown color and smells completely different when it comes out, but otherwise is unchanged. If I put a bud in, I get a bud out. I've heard you can smoke or cook with the result but I haven't tried that. I understand that many vaporizer instructions say you should grind the weed, the instructions for my vaporize specifically says NOT to grind. I've tried both ways and I can't tell the difference.

I'm reluctant to use the residue for cooking. I'm afraid that its potency will not be sufficient and that it would adversely affect the flavor of my cookies. I hate to waste a batch when I know my current technique is effective and already uses plant material that is unfit for smoking.

maybe I'm burning mine too hot... what I get out is more of an ash consistency. I have always put mine through a grinder before it goes into the vaporizer. My instructions say to do it that way.
funny how one would contradict the other!

I think the contradiction has to do with the method of heating the herb. My understanding is that some vaporizers heat by putting a container in direct contact with the heat source. The Herbalaire heats air that then passes through the crucible. The advantage being that vaporizing only happens when drawing air into the vaporizer.

Teflon is not part of the heating element on the Herbalaire. The mouth piece and the piece the mouthpiece fits in are Teflon. My understanding is that Teflon gets into the system only after it gets over-heated, as a teflon pan left too long on a stove. The Teflon in the Herbalaire is only exposed to temperatures up to about 400 degrees Fahrenheit (I set mine to about 350). The Teflon parts closest to the heater get warm, but not so hot that I can't touch it and leave my fingers on it. I'm guessing it's at most 150 degrees. I can't say that the Teflon is safe, because I don't know. I can say that there is no taste or odor associated with the Teflon and I FEEL safe.

I haven't had to replace any of the accessories, and they all still look perfect. I've used it nearly every day for about three months. I cleaned the mouth piece and stem in alcohol once. I've only used the balloon a few times. I expect it will be good for at least 30 uses, and my understanding is that turkey roasting bags work.

IIRC (back to about 1965 so it might not be correct) Teflon converts to phogene gas somewhere near 800 deg. F. The story was that the Russian KGB put a 'thread' of Teflon into a cigarette inside a pack belonging to a German operative and it killed the person.

Here's a link to an unsubstantiated "report" on chemical stability of Teflon at high temperatures: -- Is Teflon safe? (June 2006) --

new subject --- THC conversion temperatures:

Somewhere around 250 deg. F. provides THCA to THC conversion -- local Tincture extractors use 250 for 75 to 90 minutes. THC is stable up to about 380 deg. So an accurate 350 should be 'gentle, quick and kind.'

Link: -- heating cannabis to convert THC - Google Search --

I need to do some research on this.
As an experment, I took my grinder and ground up some of my premo stuff and capped it into size 000 caps. I would guess that each cap would hold enough for a very small joint. more than enough to do the job if smoked.
I took one cap a few days ago and waited and waited and got nothing
next day I took two caps and had pretty much the same outcome
I'm going to try three caps tomorrow but that much material would roll a Bob Marley Joint and if I smoked that much I would be wiped out.
I like the idea of ingesting instead of smoking, but to me it seems like you waste a lot of material.

Is there a process you need to do to a bud before ingesting? like cooking it?
that link that Rook provided seems to have much info.... time to join yet another forumn

@thhn --- The key is to thermally convert the weed to THC -- try dry roasting in the oven in a compact sealed container. I categorically deny any personal experience in this game. ...rook

I use butter extraction. My understanding is that THC is fat-soluble, and once in the fat is more readily absorbed. I grind leaf material very fine, and put butter and the herb in the top of a double boiler for about an hour. Then I strain the butter through cheese cloth. I normally use the butter to make cookies, but I've spread it on toast. It works for me.

The problem is doing this with primo bud would be cost prohibitive (at least for me). I use discarded leaves that would just be thrown away. I use a half-cup of plant material to two sticks (8 oz) of butter.

My first thought when I started the topic was that ingesting would have to be the superior method but I hadn't really looked into vaporizing properly. Now after some selfreflection and learning a little about the vapors I've decided to stick with my original method.

For the following reasons(correct me if I'm wrong):

- Healthissues:As a non-smoker I'm not convinced that vaporizing is a healthier alternative to ingesting. Most vaporizers advertise it as the healthy alternative to smoking, but just coz it produces a lot less toxicity than smoking doesn't mean there's no toxicity.I'm not 100% convinced that the materials surrounding it and the absense of any toxic byproducts when heated up at (thc)high temperatures

-The alleged efficiency: Obviously there's nothing more efficient than ingesting, especially the way I do it. 100%. I did like the idea of getting high and using the residu for foods, but as was stated here the residu was negligable, so you still end up vaporizing it, and since I wouldn't like to keep the residu in the vaporizer too long I'd smoke it the next day or very soon.
I think the problem (at least for me as an ex-smoker) with vaporizing is it's very much like smoking. There's something addictive about the act of inhaling as well as the nicotine. And since one draw isn't enough I think it would be a lot easier to use more frequently than ingesting and it's really not a habit I want to get into again. So, it's only efficient compared to smoking not compared to eating. Also as mentioned above
in the liver the thc gets transformed from delta 9 to delta 11, 5x more psychoactive, thus you get more bang for your buck.

-The cost of the vaporizer: Although there are very cheap vaporizers out there I would probably buy one between the €180 and €250, so that's a lot of vaping I'd have to do to make up for this. Since I'm not planning on using cannabis too often, I'd loose double buying a vaporizer, I'd get myself into a bad habit and obviously the expense.

My first thought when I started the topic was that ingesting would have to be the superior method but I hadn't really looked into vaporizing properly. Now after some selfreflection and learning a little about the vapors I've decided to stick with my original method.

For the following reasons(correct me if I'm wrong):

- Healthissues:As a non-smoker I'm not convinced that vaporizing is a healthier alternative to ingesting. Most vaporizers advertise it as the healthy alternative to smoking, but just coz it produces a lot less toxicity than smoking doesn't mean there's no toxicity.I'm not 100% convinced that the materials surrounding it and the absense of any toxic byproducts when heated up at (thc)high temperatures

-The alleged efficiency: Obviously there's nothing more efficient than ingesting, especially the way I do it. 100%. I did like the idea of getting high and using the residu for foods, but as was stated here the residu was negligable, so you still end up vaporizing it, and since I wouldn't like to keep the residu in the vaporizer too long I'd smoke it the next day or very soon.
I think the problem (at least for me as an ex-smoker) with vaporizing is it's very much like smoking. There's something addictive about the act of inhaling as well as the nicotine. And since one draw isn't enough I think it would be a lot easier to use more frequently than ingesting and it's really not a habit I want to get into again. So, it's only efficient compared to smoking not compared to eating. Also as mentioned above
in the liver the thc gets transformed from delta 9 to delta 11, 5x more psychoactive, thus you get more bang for your buck.

-The cost of the vaporizer: Although there are very cheap vaporizers out there I would probably buy one between the €180 and €250, so that's a lot of vaping I'd have to do to make up for this. Since I'm not planning on using cannabis too often, I'd loose double buying a vaporizer, I'd get myself into a bad habit and obviously the expense.

Helixer:
I think your reasoning is very sound and you have made a good choice.
I would like to hear a bit more on your method of ingestion? If I recall, you generally use hash right?
Do you prepare that in any way or just break off a chuck and down the hatch?
If so, why would that work for hash and not for leaf? (either premo or run of the mill)

I'm glad this thread came up... I was quite ignorant of the fact that you just don't chomp down a bud and wait for the buzz. after reading a bit on the other forumn and watching many utube videos about cooking with thc I now understand that I was just wasting perfectly good refer. Now I need to locate some lesser quality product and start cooking

Just to reiterate, I usually buy Polm a type of hash from Marocco, I've tried other types as well but this specific type of hash brings on the best effects with the Aneros. The past few months however the quality I'm used to with the characteristics soft, pliable and a pungent smell(due to the high thc content) has been replaced by dry, hard(so you have to burn it to sprinkle), and not so pungent.
I don't know what the reason is, could be anything from seasonalities to tougher druglaws due to the change in government(which would make sense as the hash then is older and gets harder with oxidization).
Hopefully with spring and summer coming up the quality will change as well

Anyway, either way I think hash is a lot more convenient for ingesting despite the differences in hashtypes, coz it's basically the densely thc concentrated 'juice' of the plant, whereas with the bud you get a lot of other stuff as well.(leaves, bud etc).
But I'm baffled as well why there's such a big difference in Aneros specific effect. Smoking skunk will get you more stoned than smoking hash, but (Polm) hash envelopes your body in euphoria and ingesting it even more so(for above mentioned reason).
Perhaps it's got something to do with country specific characteristics? Like cocaine is only grown in Columbia

Back to your question; I don't eat a whole chunk of hash, I sprinkle it in small pieces/powder on a cake(to mask the taste) then swallow.
If I didn't have any access to hash, I think I would either try and make hash myself out of the buds or I'd try and make some type of oil out of it(as MultiD suggested). The main thing is that what you ingest is as potent as possible

So i'm going to talk about weed here, nothing i"m stating has anything to do with its aneros application, i'm still a noob to aneros so little of what i would have to say on that subject is credible. But after reading through this thread it's obvious that many readers here have a ton of misconceptions and incorrect ideas. I will do my best to explain things in depth but there will be times when i will summarize an idea breifly that could really be its own discussion but this is meant to be a crash course for those that know nothing about weed, not a in-depth discussion of various aspects.
Please bear in mind the following 1. many of the ideas behind thc/weed are strictly theory and there is very little to zero proof for many of these ideas (i will do my best to point out facts from theory). 2. all mind altering states are subjective, some it hits harder, some may never notice it.

-Potency, grade and type.
-Grade
When you get a bag of weed it could be classified into 3 naming systems, the grade, the type and the strain. Grade refers to how the plant was grown, whether the plant was fertilized whether it was given artificial light cycles to aid in growing. A schwag weed as it is known has not been properly separated to prevent fertilization nor has it been tended to well this is the lowest potency bud you can find and it will often contain large amounts of seeds and can have substantially less bud to the plant. A chronic bud has been separated correctly such that the plants will not cross fertilize each other this lack of fertilization results in the plant putting more of is energy into the bud, resulting in higher and more potent yeild, chronic bud also has typically had a lot more care given into it such as trimming and artificial light cycles this also results in a higher and more potent yeild.
-Type
if you get a bag of schwag chances are it has been grown so carelessly that it would not even be worth the time to classify it into a type. however when you get a bag of nice chronic it can be broken down like this, there are 2 main types of canibus sativa & indica (there are some class bridging/defying strains but 90%+ fo what you'll find could be classified as one or the other). For most people there is a substantial difference in the effects of a sativa vs an indica. In general a sativa affects your head "making you stupid" as some would put it, where as an indica can be felt in your muscles/body more "a body high"(most people would probably find a indica preferable for aneros as it can be felt more in muscles instead of in the mind) . the difference of these effects has NOTHING to do with the THC level, it is a side product of the other canibid compounds that grow along with the THC naturally in the plant it also has some to do with the shape the THC has grown into. There are ways to tell the difference between the types but that involves a lot of defining and terminology (if you truly care about this issue go elsewhere to research it), long story short most of the time i don't care to classify my weed unless i bought it under the impression it was a given type, so if you really care about always getting 1 type then get a good trust-able dealer. Finally the strain each good chronic weed has been given a strain name by someone along the line, so if you have a source where you can always get the same strain then this can be your best bet for repeated success. However many people really don't know what their talking about here and it can in general be pointless to ask the strains as the person you are asking just knows what someone else told them not what is necessarily right. Majority of the time 9 out of 10 times when someone tells me "i got this weed" i ignore that comment and only a few people i have ever met can truly tell you correctly the strain of a given bud.
-Potency and THC compounds.
I have already noted that a chronic bud is far more potent and pure than a schwag bud, that is a general rule but now we will get into making various THC compounds from your bud. The side effects of sativa vs indica also are more or less carried on when you use that sativa or indica to make a butter, hash or other THC compound, in short if you use an indica to make hash that hash will feel similar to smoking that indica but will be more potent and take less to get to the same level. It should also be noted in this section that pure THC can be obtained most of the time if you find a pure THC it has been synthesized in a tube not extracted and refined from a plant and has substantially different effects from either variety. For me the 99% pure THC was more like a sativa and made me unable to think critically & problem solve which has never been the case with any other weed/THC derivative i have had. The pure THC also had none of the other side effects you commonly get with cannibids, i had absolutely no munchies with the pure which is entirely unheard of for me.
-Canibid Derivatives
It should also be noted in this section that there are various synthetically created canibid derivatives that act on the same brain receptor as THC does, most notable are JWH-018 and JWH-072 these were until dec 25th 2010 legal int the US and could be easily obtained in products known as "spice"(K2, spush, fun times, spike, spice, wicked, are some notable brands here) however the DEA has since banned products to contain these and a handful of other similar compounds, but if you have good connections and are persistent you can likely still get your hands on some. Since the ban many of the brands have switched to a different compound that has yet to be illegalized i cannot give you any information on this new compound as it has been highly under wraps and DEA is actually in multiple lawsuits currently to get more information. FOR THE LOVE OF GOD IF YOU DO CHOOSE TO TRY SPICE KEEP THIS WARNING IN MIND: YOU CAN OVERDOSE ON IT, ALSO MANY PEOPLE HAVE BAD REACTIONS OR ARE MADE SICK BY IT, SO TRY 1 SMALL HIT AND WAIT AT LEAST 2 HOURS BEFORE DECIDING WHETHER OR NOT TO PRECEDE.

-Edibles and ingestion
I have home hand made edibles countless times with a weed butter method, I have also gotten edibles from respected edible creators, i have also made home made thc alcohol and BHO (butane hash oil).
every time i have gotten my hands on edibles there has also been at least 1 other person that has tried them with me, so i can verify that it wasn't just a poorly made batch or other poor result. Only one, yes your reading that right one time out of over 50 times i have tried edibles only once did i ever notice ANY effect. as i stated before mind altering is subjective and some people may not get the same result off the same amount of a substance that their friend did, so in all honesty im not the best person to ask about ingestion.
There are a few other notes to follow here, THC is fat soluble but is not water soluble (fact) your body can process fat far easier than it can process a complex acid like THC on its own, yes you are getting some THC into your system by just eating a bud/nug but nowhere near the amount you can get into your system if you were to dissolve that same bud/nug into fat/alcohol this is why helixer gets good results with eating hash as the hash is easier for the stomach to break down. it should also be noted in this section that the conversion from THC>THCA or THCA > THC(theory with some proof i for one believe this idea though) or whatever you want to define it as does play a role in edible creation, to put it in a nutshell the idea is this, to release and get the effects of THC into you bloodstream it must be heated & that heat makes a conversion from THC>THCA, so in short when making edibles or THC compound it is a good idea to very gently heat your weed for a short amount of time, were talking microwave it for 1 second on the lowest power here (it can be very easy to over heat here so try it with a tiny amount till you get it right) , this step is a must if your creation does not involve heat itself like a BHO but if your making butter which involves heat you may be able to skip this step.
Keep in mind with ingestion it can be more potent from the same amount and that it can take much longer to affect you so if 2 minutes after you eat the edible you still dont feel anything wait araound 1-2 hours depending on your experince untill you are sure that you have hit the peak before eating more. Failure to follow this rule can result in a bad experience you can become waaay to high and if you do sleeping is your best way to come back down. It is theoretically possible to overdose on THC however the ammount required is over 1.5X your body weight which a human cant eat/smoke in 1 day anyway so you'll likely need to sleep before you even get to 1/4th your body weight that is of course assuming you somehow have access to 200pounds of pure THC.

-Vaporizers and smoking
so for those that are unclear the idea behind a vaporizer is that you heat the weed to the point where the THC can become airborne gas without burning the plant matter creating smoke (if you are getting actual ash in the end with a vape you have it waaaay to high and your losing effectiveness of the product.), if done correctly you should NOT see smoke when vapeing, there should be some very light particulate floating in the gas but not heavy smoke. Which vaporizer is the best? the one that vaporizes all the THC effectively without creating burning, so the vaporizer with the most accurate control system you can find is the best, in my experience the best brand i have used is a "volcano" brand vape. to answer the question of grind the weed or not for a vape the answer is always yes, regardless of the manufactures instructions its simple chemistry here, greater surface area allows for quicker heating and more effective absorption however you can easily over grind wich will give you too small of bits and can either get sucked up clogging the tube or more seriously fall down into the heating element and possibly cause a fire, the manufacturer does not want a fire so they tell you not to grind it, you want to grind gentle a few times going for chunks of bud not specs of bud, always look at the vapes construction and ensure you do not grind to far allowing it to fall into the heating element. All in all a vape is a very cool and fun tool that can make smoking more pleasing/easy/effective than other means if done right but given the expense and testing to get that system down can be to hard for some. Personally i don't think a vape hits me as hard or last as long, to me a vape is like being tipsy not being drunk if you get the analogy im going for here.
Onto smoking the bud, i would like to once again remind you that THC is NOT water soluble but many other things are, things that you may not necessarily want to be inhaling thus when possible it is ALWAYS a good idea to pass your smoke though water at least one time, Ideally you would buy a bong that has 2+ water chambers that are as diffused as possible (diffused meaning break the smoke up into smaller bubbles giving greater surface area and higher efficiency) ideally your bong would also have a upper chamber for catching ice thus as the smoke passes the ice it cools it making it easier on your lungs. as the smoke passes though the water the THC passes right through not affected whatsoever but the other impurities are left behind trapped in the water and do not make it to your lungs, this makes a bong healthier than other aspects of smoking. now here is a KEY item that most avid smokers entirely overlook, what is the source of your heat? most people without a second thought whatsoever will grab a lighter torch it up and begin to light the bowl and not stop lighting the bowl until they are done inhaling THIS IS HORRIBLE FOR YOU. when you use a lighter you are inhaling all the fumes that are a result of combustion and gas being released from the lighter, this is absolutely horrible for you in every aspect. there are a lot of alternatives to lighters and unless you literally don't have any alternative you should ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS use some form of heat/flame medium for lighting your smokeables. the best way you can light your bowl is to use pure heat this can be acquired in a few ways; a lens focusing sunlight into the bowl to burn it known as solar rip, this is one of your best options but this only works if you have a yard you can step out into the light and hit the bowl. there are other good ways of obtaining pure heat, u can use a heat gun (glorified hair dryer) but this requires a special shaped bowl or youll just blow the weed away & who wants that waste? the other good way of using pure heat is known as a glass match, & some times it is just that, a long glass rod you heat to be red hot with a torch then once its red hot simply gently poke it into the bowl, but probably the most user freindly way of getting pure heat is by using the correct soldering iron you MUST obtaion a HAKKO soldering iron (hakko has a patent on the ceramic inter tip and it is the ONLY soldering iron that is safe and suitable for this use, NEVER EVER use a metal heat source(more on that later)) the hakko soldering iron contains a ceramic inner tip and if you partially disassemble it correctly you can access this tip while leaving the heating element functional for use to light your bowl google this for more info and check out grass city they are very knowledgeable on such subjects. if you cant get sunlight or a glass match or other pure heat source, you should still skip on the lighter and go for a type of flame medium essentially all this is is a different object you burn and then use that fire to light the bowl instead of the lighter, there are some products made for this purpose the best of which is Bline brand hemp organic beeswax line for smoking, however if you cant get your hands on that find something else, even if that's toothpicks, Popsicle sitcks or other small sticks yo use as a flame medium hell even a small strip of paper is beter than the lighter, once again its the lighter thats killing you not the smoking weed. you will also notice that when you stop using a lighter you get much better tasting hits. in all honnesty i prefer smoking out of a good bong with a pure heat source FAR more than a vape or edible it hits me quick and hard and is far easier to keep track of actual consumption than a edible.
here are a few DONT'S when smoking, dont make a pipe out of a can you are melting and smoking the plastic liner of the can which is toxic and well as heating an alumininm can which is also toxic. Dont smoke out of metal or plastic ever, plastic can melt an burn as well as being toxic to inhale its gases, metal when heated will release some of the elements within it out into what your inhaling which is bad tasting and can be toxic depending on the metal, surgical grade non-outgassing steel would be safe to smoke out of however i can guarantee you that metal pipe you have is NOT made out of that grade of steel. i already said this but it happens so often it cant hurt to reiterate, dont fix your pipe with foil or glue or make a pipe out of foil or glue smoking from foil is extremely toxic as would be if you were to burn the glue holding it in-place. in general it is only truly safe to smoke out of glass or ceramic wood can be safe but typically has been treated with things that then make it unsafe.

So in closing what works for some may not work for you this is why i have done my best to give those that are new to weed as much info as painlessly as possible i know my grammar and punctuation and pagination are atrocious so forgive the eye stabbing formatting here, if you have any questions or need any clarification i will do my best. hope this helped clarify at least some points to someone i will do my best to check back here shortly seeing as this is my only post here maybe i can manage that....

Edit: WOW the formatting is even more eye stabbing once in post it wasn't so bad in editing window its bed time now but ill come tomorrow & do some formatting to make this easier to read.....
Change log:
1.0 posted 2/14/11 Tons of clarification needed and lots of formatting needed to be fixed still.
1.1 edited 2/15/11 added grade into potetency section added lots of formatting and other various clarifications, added warnings and additional information into edibles section.