Vaping Cannabis: Flower vs. Oils!
Back in the day, we didn’t even have this as an option obviously. But now we do, which is great, since it gives us a CHOICE between how we’d like consume our cannabis given the convenience level that we need.
Recently I’ve begun to debate this in my head as well. Forever, my gut instinct/popular culture has told me that vaping the full flower is obviously the absolute best way to inhale your cannabis. It’s whole, it’s terpy, it’s ritualistic almost as well (maybe not as much as a joint, obviously!). Vaping flower when you have the correct tool is fantastic (I use the Crafty+ from Storz and Bickel). In the beginning, I would knock the use of oils as inferior to vaping flower….but I eventually realized that I wasn’t looking at the whole picture.
Vaping flower as mentioned above, provides a wonderful holistic experience. You open the jar and first have a blast of terpenes flying into your olfactory senses which immediately lights you up and gets you excited to get the next step of the process going! You then perfectly grind the flower and load it into your device in any way you see fit and in whatever perfect amount that makes sense for you! You let it heat up to the chosen temperature, begin to smell a bit of the terpenes seeping out of the air piece and BOOM! You begin your session! This can take all-in ~5-15 minutes depending on your device and session length, but it’s not simply a 15 second pause as utilizing your 510 thread cartridge would be.
….And so this is where the debate begins! Some may say that the convenience of utilizing an oil cartridge is quicker and just as effective, and that may be true! The other day in a rush wanting to leave the house, I wanted a CBD hit before I walked out to blunt the inflammation I was feeling from my run earlier (pun kinda intended). I found myself almost annoyed at thinking of loading another bowl in my vaporizer due to the estimated time it would take, only to remember that I have my cartridges as well! I found the correct strain for the moment, screwed it into my battery, hit it, and went about my day…all in 15 seconds!
So…unfortunately for those that hate ties and those games where everyone receives a trophy, this is (unfortunately for you!) where come to our conclusion in the dreaded “it depends” category, but it’s also true!
For example, if you’re always on the run, heading out the door in-and-out of appointments, most likely utilizing your flower vape will be a messier, more time-consuming, and slightly smellier experience (although the smell is almost trivial with vaping flower, it’s still not something that I would want to consider for in-person meetings during the work-week if that’s your situation). This is when your 510 thread battery carts work wonders to help medicate during the day.
However if you’re home more often with more time on your hands as well, utilizing your flower vape can be an amazing way to uplift your day and really obtain all of the benefits of the cannabinoids and terpenes from the full-plant.
Recently, this was my revelation as well. I’ve gone back and forth over the years between my preferences, times when I’ve been hustling in NYC with 5 meetings per day, and then with remote work during the pandemic and almost rarely leaving the house. My flower consumption increased dramatically during the pandemic, needless to say!
If I could somehow combine the convenience of my 510 carts with the tasty and holistic experience of vaping flower, then we would be in a fantastic spot! And who knows…the way things have been rolling recently in the cannabis world, this is certainly an opportunity and maybe we’re already there and I just don’t know about it (please let me know if that’s the case!).
Do you have a preference? Does it change like mine has? Let me know! Enjoy! 🙂
~Ryan
Thecannabisc@gmail.com