Taking the edge off of the exhaustion, stress, and illness of modern life shouldn’t be expensive or harmful to your health. Mindful consumption of any mind-altering substance is an intelligent approach if your goal is to save money on cannabis consumption. Dabbing has four distinct benefits and saving money is definitely our number one. Read on for the rest!
#1 Saving Money With Dabs
Be Honest About Your Tolerance
In our article “All About Dabs: What They Are and Who They’re For” we pointed out that high tolerance is a poor reason to begin dabbing. Be denial-free about where you’re at with your tolerance levels and how you feel about them. The reason being that high tolerance is the money trap in the first place.
A Little Dab Goes A Long Way
If you are looking to cut down on how much you inhale into your lungs, dabbing can help! You can try out concentrates without investing in a dab rig. Some high-end cannabis vaporizers accommodate both flowers and concentrate. You can still try concentrates with flower-only vapes by adding a tiny dab to your flowers.
The lower heat session required for flowers will slowly release the concentrate as your flower decarboxylates. You slightly extend your session and intensify it considerably, removing your need to vape more.
In practical terms, how does this look? Let’s say you vape four full vape chambers of Bubba Kush cannabis buds to help you unwind before bedtime. You could cut down to a single micro-vaping session, adding the smallest crumble of Bubba Kush Black Label Shatter by Sweet Leaf to compliment the buds it came from. Try doing a taste comparison before and after adding the shatter!
Always Clean Up After You Dab!
Do clean out your rig or vape anytime you use a concentrate. Dab remnants could potentially combust and release undesirable Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), the harmful chemicals from burning organic matter. If you are keen to try pure dabs, a dab rig is the way to go. It is a long-term investment that delivers returns over decades.
Cleaning a proper dab rig after use is incredibly simple. All you need is a Q-tip, rubbing alcohol, and 60 seconds.
#2 Potency and Cannabinoid Concentration
The entire dab experience caters to users who require potent effects quickly. For this reason, dabs are immensely beneficial for medical marijuana users. This is because of their extremely high concentrations of therapeutic cannabinoids.
The benefits of cannabis are both well-understood and still a mystery. The way cannabinoids interact with our endocannabinoid system, particularly THC, is shown to act across almost all body systems. The interactions are complicated, multi-layered.
The same is true about fibromyalgia and other forms of chronic, neuropathic pain. This type of pain is often inexplicable and impossible to locate. This pain is complicated and intensified by life stressors like work, family, and loss.
Many potential users of cannabis might be wary of the psychoactive effects of THC. Its benefits become apparent in the face of intense neuropathic, all-over pain.
Decreased hypersensitivity and euphoria accompany the immediate onset of dabs. High concentrations of CBD and other cannabinoids help to temper the intensity of a pure THC concentrate. Again, this is the entourage effect at work, delivering all-over pain relief and a distracting, euphoric high. Full-spectrum tinctures, oils, and concentrates provide this complex synergy while pure distillates do not.
#3 Flavor from Vaped and Ingested Dabs
Not all concentrates are created alike, but they all contain very high concentrations of the volatile, active compounds found in cannabis. Included with the cannabinoids are flavonoids and terpenes, responsible for flavor and aroma. Experiencing the ultimate entourage effect is the pinnacle of the dabbing experience. Taste, aroma, and psychoactivity working in natural synergy is once again the entourage effect at work.
As a rule, when we speak about flavorful cannabis concentrates, we are talking about vaped or ingested dabs, never smoked. Why? First, combusted concentrates can be dangerous for your health. Second, their flavor and aromas get destroyed by the high, uncontrolled temperatures. That’s a waste of good product! A dab rig using an e-nail will extract the most incredible flavors from your dab concentrate.
Cooking with cannabis concentrates is a science with incredible flavor and experience potential. Ingesting cannabis introduces 11-hydroxy-THC, the active metabolite of THC produced by the liver. It is a powerful sedative.
At the concentrations available in dabs, cooking with concentrates shouldn’t be taken lightly and needs to be treated as scientifically as baking a soufflé. A good chef would tell you to respect your ingredients and to provide a good balance of taste and high.
#4 Dabs Are A Unique Way to Experience Cannabis
With a quick, intense onset, even tiny dabs pack a mean punch with 60-90% THC concentration. For medical and recreational users alike, this quick onset is a powerful incentive to try dabs. A typical cannabis flower experience can be quickly intensified and enhanced with the smallest addition of concentrate. Much like ingesting cannabis edibles, dabbing opens up a new side of cannabis culture to explore.
We talked a lot about the entourage effect in this article. Next week we will bring you a full article tackling this fascinating system in depth. Stay tuned and Happy 4/20!
References
Al-Zouabi, I., Stogner, J. and Miller, B. (2018) “Butane hash oil and dabbing: insights into use, amateur production techniques, and potential harm mitigation,” PMC US National Library of Medicine, [online] Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6220730/ (Accessed 29 March 2021).
Krauss, M., Sowles, S. and Mylvaganam, S. (2015) “Displays of dabbing marijuana extracts on YouTube,” PMC US National Library of Medicine, [online] Available from: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26347408/ (Accessed 4 April 2021).
Meacham, M., Roh, S. and Chang, J. S. (2020) “Frequently Asked Questions about Dabbing Concentrates in Online Cannabis Community Discussion Forums,” PMC US National Library of Medicine, [online] Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6893129/ (Accessed 4 April 2021).
I’ve been a dabber for years and now, and I always preach the benefits of concentrates. Nice to see that people are finally starting to take notice.