Maybe it’s been a while since you smoked, and you just remembered you have some high-quality cannabis left over. Maybe you’re looking in a rarely opened drawer and you come across something you stashed away and then forgot about (it happens). Either way, you get excited! Time to smoke up!
But no! Disaster! Your high-quality buds were stored poorly (no glass jars available?) and this weed is, well, it’s bad!
How To Store Weed
Nobody wants to smoke stale weed. Old cannabis has lost its flavor, potency, and aroma. It can be dry and harsh on the throat, causing coughing fits or an unpleasant burning sensation in your lungs. Not only does it taste…
What Does Bad Weed Look Like?
Weed can go bad if it is not stored properly. Bad weed may look moldy, dry, or discolored. It might smell bad and taste bad when you smoke it too. It crumbles to dust in your hands, or it just looks like something you don’t want to go near. You know what good weed looks like – if it doesn’t look like that, you may have trouble.
Moldy Weed
If it’s moldy – bad news. You probably just want to go and throw that away. Be more careful with your cannabis buds! You can try smoking moldy weed, but do you really want to be breathing that smoke in? The same is true of our other suggestions – if it’s moldy, just don’t put that in your body.
If it doesn’t seem right, but you’re not sure, whip out a magnifying glass and turn your discerning eye toward the buds. Generally speaking, you’ll be able to tell if there’s mold on it, even with the naked eye. Look out for patches with a different color and texture – trichomes can look a little bit like mold, but mold is unevenly distributed and fuzzy, furry, or stringy.
And of course, there’s the smell. Humans are highly evolved for this – if your first reaction on taking a whiff is to make a “disgusted” face, leave it alone. Consuming moldy weed is not fun for anybody.
But if it’s only dry or discolored there are things to do! Brown weed isn’t the end of the world, and old weed can still get you high.
What To Do?
- Vape it: Vaping is a surefire way to get the last bit of potency out of your weed, whatever state it’s in. You obviously won’t get as much of an effect as with good weed, but it will work!
- Make Weed Tea: An age-old favorite – take some bad bud and steep it in hot water to make yourself some tea! The heat and steeping process helps break down the bad taste and makes for an enjoyable cup of herbal goodness. Don’t forget to strain – you probably don’t want to be swallowing it.
- Infuse Oil or Butter: Another classic – use bad weed to make an infused oil or butter. This is great for baking, cooking, and making edibles. Heat it up to decarb it (check out our guide here), then simply grind it in a food processor or mortar & pestle and mix it with your oil of choice (coconut, olive, etc.) in a pot on the stove. Heat until everything is thoroughly mixed and enjoy!
- Extract the kief: Kief is a part of old weed that you can extract. You can get it by grinding bad weed into a fine powder and then putting the powder in a mesh screen or cloth. If you have a four piece grinder this is the perfect time to use it.
How To Use Kief
What is kief made of and how can you use it? Kief, also known as dry sift or pollen, is the most potent part of the cannabis plant. It’s made up of trichomes—tiny crystals that form on the surface of…
If all of this seems like hard work, I agree. Your best option is probably to just accept your losses, buy some fresh weed, and watch how you store it! to properly store weed, use a glass jar with a tight fitting lid like a mason jar, or another airtight container, and keep it in a dark place at room temperature.
