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just plain bud? there's so many choices.

cannabis is a plant you might call bud

Cannabis is a powerful plant, a potential human ally, potent medicine, and often a heckofa good time. There are different strains, different types of the plant that we'll describe herein. Some of these various marijuanas have varied effects on our diverse brains. Plus human technology has evolved and encouraged different strengths in this plantmatter. Hopefully we can help you find something that might ease your pain, relax your mind, or develop a better relationship with reality. We're learning all the time as we co-evolve with this plant, we'll post some notes for you here:

types of bud

Now that legalization has taken hold in most of America, people are making progress on research and development for more weed understanding. You'll find Usually when people talk about the "type" or marijuana they mean indica, hybrid, sativa, CBD. Think of those as broad areas of effect: what kind of overall feeling is the herb providing? We'll explain a bit more below:

cannabinoids

Regulated cannabis and hemp products feature a wide range of cannabinoids. As legalization unfolds, research is yielding a range of cannabinoids. The original cannabinoid is Delta-9 THC. Delta-8 THC and Delta-10 THC. There's THCO and HHC, CBD, CBN, CBG. Here's a bit about the cannabinoids we've tried:

Delta-10 THC

Delta 10 THC or D10 is the lowest potency of the psychoactive cannabinoids we've tried. Think of this as mellow, not very heady at all. Chill.

Delta-8 THC

Delta 8 THC or D8 feels to us like maybe 30-40% as strong as good quality California cannabis. A pleasant feeling with not as much spinning of the mental gears.

HHC

HHC, or hexahydrocannabinol is more like 50-60% as strong as regular cannabis. So HHC is getting closer to the regular experience, but with some different characteristics. Since HHC is not a type of THC, HHC has a different relationship with drug tests.

Delta-9 THC

Delta 9 THC or D9 - this the core cannabinoid managed by regulations and laws. When people say THC they usually mean Delta-9, and d9 tends to make people feel stoned.

THC-O

THC-O or THC acetate ester is a bit more psychedelic than regular cannabis.

THCA

THCA becomes regular THC when exposed to heat, so smoking or vaping this flower can produce psychoactive effects.

strains of bud

When people speak of "strains" they might mention names like Sour Diesel, Maui Wowie, OG Kush, Chem Dog, Bruce Banner, Grand Daddy Purple, Thai Stick, Girl Scout Cookies, Acapulco Gold. These fanciful appellations apply to the specific characteristics of that strain. Does it have deep purple color, lending a fruity smell and a calm feeling? Does the nug have bright orange wispy hairs and smell something more like pine? The unique characteristic of a grown plant gives it the flavors, aromas, and effects. If you're looking at an edible or vape, the strain could be a range of flavors and cannabinoids introduced to the cannabis or hemp oil extract, designed to create the experience of a particular strain. These different strains can offer quite different experiences, especially when they interact with each of our unique brain chemistries. Over time with some gentle psychonautical experimentation, you can determine what kind of cannabis experience you want to invoke for your different situations.

Terpenes!

Terpenes are something like plant flavors. You might put your nose over some cannabis flower, the nugs and buds, and find yourself sniffing citrus, or gasoline, or pine needles. Those plant flavors are present in all kinds of plants. The balance of terpene flavors in any specific cannabis plant help express the plant's personality and works with the cannabinoids to onboard you to a different moment.

"stoned" is optional

Cannabis can offer heightened or deadened sensations, but you should know that stoned feeling is largely optional. Today there are a wide range of marijuana products that can relieve pain, enhance hobbies, or align with your exercise routine without altering your consciousness or impairing your ability to be present. If you feel intimidated or put off by "stonededness" keep your eye out for items with delta-10 THC or delta-8 THC. Our sibling site hempshop has created a helpful graphic to illustrate how psychoactive the various cannabinoids tend to be. You can definitely find products that are low potency, offering a more gentle high.

how much cannabis is enough?

Cannabis is a plant. Each plant represents specific genetics nurtured in a unique mix of soil, nutrients, light, and moisture. Then you, human, take a substance derived from this plant, and you put in your unique body, with your signature microbiome, not to mention whatever other substances and foodstuffs you may have recently ingested.

We can give some reasonable guidelines: edibles are the most no joke of all the cannabis methods. Edibles can lay you out. Start with 5mg or less of an edible. Less than 5mg to start if you are sensitive to substances or you don't weigh very much. If you eat a lot of weed, and you feel like you're gonna die, perhaps you can take comfort in knowing that no one dies from an edible marijuana overdose. High CBD products with very low or no THC can help reduce the intensity of a THC high.

With regards to dabbing, if you're wondering how much is enough, your first few dabs will definitely be too much. Unless you're starting with CBD-heavy strains, which could help you better keep your wits about you.

For smoking and vaping, fortunately it comes on pretty quick so it's more difficult to oversmoke or overvape. Except, of course, by trying to take too much in one breath. Imagine yourself sipping cannabis - taking small hits, with a big chaser of air, and letting that sit inside of you comfortably. It's not an inhale olympics, unless that's how you like to roll. Overall you can avoid getting too stoned if you can imbibe slowly and pay attention to your breath.

how much is too much weed?

Anything can be done too much, cannabis included. Smoking anything is hard on your lungs. Eating too much edible cannabis can staple you to the floor. Please use any psychoactive substance with caution. Cannabis is far less threatening to your health than alcohol, but don't lose your mind and your ability to be present for your priorities. We wrestle with the right balance ourselves. If you purchase more cannabis than you need in day, check out our research on the best ways to store weed.

what's the deal with bud.com?

Questions about bud.com may be answered if you bud.com/ask.

CBD: calm

CBD - cannabidiol

Since cannabis has been illegal for most of recent memory, we don't have sustained, deep scientific research on the impacts and potential for this plant. However recently we've discovered great potential in CBD, cannabidiol, one of the chemical compounds present in varying degrees in all cannabis (but not industrial hemp). Some folks have found that CBD products help them sleep. Products marketed as high-CBD will tend to have less THC, so they are not as psychoactive as the regular indica/sativa/hybrid weed. We have created a page exploring CBD in more detail.

CBD - cannabidiol a chemical compound present in varying degrees in all cannabis

Here's a few of our recommended CBD products, designed to assist you with your personal healing and relief, or search across all our products for CBD.

indica: laid back

Indica has wider fatter leaves. This is the more relaxing pot. The sit down and watch a movie pot. The go to sleep soon afterwards or even during the movie pot. If you have pain, and you want to take the edge off overall, this could be a good choice. A potentially healthier way to wind down after work, compared to alcohol or fight club. We've written about cannabis and sleep; CBN and indica strains tend to be popular there.

sativa: exciting

sativa

Sativa has longer skinnier leaves. This is the more exciting pot. The get up and dance pot. The come up with new ideas pot. The keep you awake pot. This is marijuana you can use during the daytime, and might get you outdoors or to your hobby bench. Or calling up an old friend with a wild suggestion.

ways to intake cannabis

make yourself at ease, comfortable

Cannabis is a dynamic, psychoactive substance. Humans have been ingesting it for thousands of years. They have smoked it, they have eaten & drank it, they have rubbed it on their skin and shoved it in their ears. Fortunately, it's pretty hard to hurt yourself with pot, unless you eat more edible cannabis than you're ready for; that can feel something perhaps like dying for a few hours.

We offer a range of ways to consume cannabis in measured doses; here's a few of the ways you might try.

measuring up & pricing

With edibles, the dosage is a prominent part of the packaging. With cannabis, the talk is of grams or 1/8th ounces. More expensive products tend to have more rare ingredients, more painstaking artisanal, outdoor, organic, biodynamic, fermentation farming, solvent-free, even bury the ram's horn loaded with crystals in leaves of Persian shield on the full moon sorts of production methods.

pre-rolls: easy to spark & share

pre-rolled joints are easy to pluck from the box and spark and pass around. You must find fire. When you finish the results are biodegradable and compostable. Depending on your tolerance or the pre-roll, some joints are too much for one session so it can be a good excuse to neighbor up and share. The quality of the bud flower used in these joints is the same stuff we sell in whole flower form.

Here's a few of our recommended pre-roll products, easy to spark and puff:

vape pens: the convenience

vape pens & cartridges: portable cannabis oil vaporization

The vape pen is a miracle of modern cannabis convenience. Cannabis oil sits in a cartridge until you press a button or inhale on the battery or body of the pen. The cannabis oil in the cartridge heats to a vapor for you to inhale. There's no matches or lighter necessary. There's no physical trace of cannabis besides your exhaled mist. Your breath and fingers and clothes don't smell so stanky like they do after combusting flower. Your lungs will likely be happier. Some folks prefer the taste, smell, primal sensation of the cannabis smoke. You can decide if the immense convenience and positive health impacts are worth it.

Most of them charge via USB, like a mobile phone. There's a mostly-common size for vape pen cartridges, with some notable brand exceptions who have made their own cartridge formats. One way to avoid confusion is to get started with a pen & cartridge combo, then you can try different flavors of cartridge with the same pen over time. There are some essentially disposable pens as well; please mind your local e-waste guidelines.

Here's a few of our recommended vape products, designed to allow you easy dosing:

edibles: discreet measured doses

eating cannabis

There are a huge range of edible goods available infused with cannabis. We keep our menu focused on a few products that offer more reliable dosing. Eating marijuana is a great way to get a regulated amount that can last a longer time. It's can be good for pain management. But you need to closely monitor your intake, especially if you haven't eaten pot in a while. Eating marijuana can take much longer to set in, unless you have an empty stomach in which case it can come on quite strong. Smoking plenty of pot does not prepare you to eat large dose edibles. When in doubt, start with 5mg or less.

Here's a few of our recommended edibles, a measured taste of cannabis:

Learn More

We have a blog Bud Media where we post stories on a range of topics relevant to plant-lovers and psychonauts - people with a long-term relationship to cannabis or people trying to understand why their cousin is always stoned.