Skip to main content

Tolerance Break

tolerance break, cannabis tolerance, marijuana tolerance, old school cannabis, cannabis durango, durango cannabis, the greenery, durango, durango co, dispensary, dispensary durango, dispensary durango co, dispensaries durango, dispensaries durango co, dispensaries, dispensary near me, CBD, CBD oil, the greenery durango, marijuana dispensary, marijuana

In my humble opinion, the only thing wrong with smoking pot is that after a while, it’ll stop working. The THC in cannabis is just like any other intoxicant in that your body will build up a tolerance over time, which is annoying. And frankly, that’s the boat I’m in right now. I work in a dispensary (obviously), so I’m usually swimming in flower (I’m spoiled) and I smoke regularly. As such, I’ve built up that dreaded tolerance, and I’m about to take a drastic step to fix my problem: I’m going to take a tolerance break.

Simply put, a “tolerance break” is a period of time wherein you don’t consume cannabis so your tolerance goes away. There’s a ton of science behind it (for more, please read my blog on the endocannabinoid system HERE), but basically, taking a break from pot lets your ECS receptors become more receptive to cannabinoids. And then when you fall back off the wagon, your fresh receptors soak up all that lovely THC and you get a high that feels just like the first time. However, the duration of a tolerance break differs depending on the amount you smoke. So, if you’re a smoker who takes a puff or two at night, a day off will work, but if you’re an all-day type of smoker, you’ll need to take a week-long tolerance break for the best effect (mine will probably need to last a decade to work).

Sounds horrible, right? Well, believe it or not, you can be proactive and take mini tolerance breaks to make it so your tolerance doesn’t get too high in the first place. Most people do this by designating a day to stay away from cannabis, like “sober Sunday,” and it works well (but please don’t choose Monday because that day sucks enough as it is). However, this isn’t possible for some people, even though that might sound a bit alien to you if you’re not one of them. A lot of people use cannabis as their medicine, and as such, a day without isn’t feasible. So, if you’re in this boat, I’d recommend giving targeted groups of receptors a tolerance break.

You can read a peer-reviewed study HERE if you’d like, but basically, ECS receptors are located throughout the body, and there’s a high concentration of them in the digestive system. Do you see what I’m getting at? If you use cannabis, but smoking it isn’t as effective as it used to be, give your lungs a break and switch to edibles for a while. And then when that gets old, go back to smoking. Doing so will let you get the most out of your cannabis because you’ll always have a fresh group of receptors to switch to once a certain group builds up a tolerance. And if you need a third option, try a transdermal cannabis product.

Believe it or not, we sell THC-infused transdermal patches from Mary’s Medicinals (these things are just like nicotine patches, but they get you high, which is way better than nicotine). All you need to do is clean a venous area of your body (like the inner-wrist or the top of your foot), slap on a patch, and then wait for the effect. The high that comes from a patch isn’t as intense as something you’d get from flower or edibles, but it lasts much longer (it’ll keep you where you need to be for 8 to 12 hours). So, if you throw patches into the equation, you can rotate between your lungs, stomach, and skin to make sure no one group of receptors gets too much THC.

Lastly, did you notice that you just read a dispensary blog that suggested taking a break from smoking? Isn’t that a little odd given that it’s my job to get you in to our Durango dispensary to spend money? In saying this, I simply wanted to point out that most shops will tell you to just smoke more pot if your tolerance builds up because those shops just want your money—we want you to have the best possible experience with the cannabis you buy here, because we’re different; that’s why We’re Your Best Buds!

Bringing Back the Old-School

old school cannabis, cannabis durango, durango cannabis, the greenery, durango, durango co, dispensary, dispensary durango, dispensary durango co, dispensaries durango, dispensaries durango co, dispensaries, dispensary near me, CBD, CBD oil, the greenery durango, marijuana dispensary, marijuana

It’s a tired platitude, but necessity really is the mother of all invention. And back in the good ol’ days, there was plenty of “necessity” lying around when it came to cannabis because you couldn’t simply walk into a store like our Durango dispensary and buy weed; those were dark times. And it was just as difficult at times to find paraphernalia because headshops weren’t as ubiquitous as they are now. So, if you were lucky enough to score some pot from “a guy” but you didn’t have a pipe, you had to get creative. Or, if you had a pipe but no weed, you had to do the same. Granted, all of that is gone now because we have more dispensaries in Colorado than we do Starbucks and McDonald’s locations combined, but a few of those tricks from the old days are worth holding onto even though they aren’t necessary. Let me explain.

Let’s start with the “have a pipe but no weed scenario.” Back in the day, when we ran out, we’d scrape our pipes, collect the sticky black resin, and then smoke it. Resin burns like tar and the high is sedating like a hash-high, but it’s kinda gross. However, there was a silver lining to that tar-black cloud: most people walked around with clean pipes thanks to the times when they ran out. Nowadays, since pot is everywhere, people walk around with dirty pipes, which is just as bad as smoking resin. The heat from your lighter burns a bit of the buildup under the bowl, and all your pot starts to taste the same. So, two pieces of advice: clean your bowl regularly, and your pipe occasionally. Right after smoking, while the bowl is still warm, shove a paper towel down into the bowl and twist it; doing so will clean out all the resin and leave a fresh bowl for the next session. And if you notice that your hits start to taste a bit musky, boil your pipe in some hot water (or soak it in a solution of rubbing alcohol and salt) to clean out all that resin that we used to collect and smoke. Your taste buds will thank you.

Now, the “have pot but not a pipe” scenario is much more fun. I’ve made pipes out of everything from soda cans to fish tanks, even though the former probably took a couple years off my life because of the paint on the can and the latter was a bit ridiculous. And nowadays, there’s really no excuse to not a have a pipe (we sell a few for eight bucks in our shop), but you never know, it could happen (especially if you’re clumsy and you have a glass pipe). So, as a suggestion, smoke out of an apple.

Yeah, it sounds weird, but I’m sure you’ve heard older stoners talk about apple pipes, and old people usually know what they’re talking about. Step 1: pull the stem out of the apple, and then shove a pen down into the core. Don’t use the tip, and press it in until it goes almost all the way through. Step 2: press your pen into the top of the apple until the two holes in the apple meet, and then dig out a little bowl at the top of the second hole. Step 3: put some flower into the bowl, and then smoke it (by inhaling through the first hole). An apple pipe is obviously a one-time thing, but there’s an added bonus: the hits taste like apples. Fun, right?

But I know what you’re thinking: this is pointless because they sell papers at gas stations and you’d take a joint over smoking out of an apple any day. True. But because nobody runs out of joints these days (they’re $10 each in our shop and a gram a piece), something else from the old-school is being lost: generation joints.

Back in the day, we’d throw all our roaches (the small, leftover part of the joint that’s hard to smoke) into a pill bottle. When we ran out of flower, we’d bust out that pill bottle, break open all the roaches, and then roll all the flower into a “generation joint,” which is named thusly because it’s the second time, or “generation,” that the flower has been smoked. The flower in a roach is coated with resin, which is nothing more than activated THC, so it’s more potent; the high is much deeper and stronger with a generation joint than with a regular joint. These days, all the pre-rolls you buy in a dispensary have a crutch in the tip (a little rolled piece of cardboard that works as a mouthpiece), so it’s much easier to smoke all the flower in a modern-day joint, but if you find that there’s a little bit left over, I’d listen to me and get a pill bottle. Generation joints need to be brought back by all you millennials because they’re wonderful.

Alright, now on to something interesting: heel hash. This will sound disgusting but bear with me. Way-back-when, you couldn’t just walk into a store and buy hash. I know; it sounds crazy, but it’s true. So, we’d collect kief (all the crystals that fall off the flower in the container or collects on the screen in your grinder). And then we’d put the kief into a cellophane bag (like the one that comes on a pack of cigarettes), fold-up and tape the bag so it was sealed, and then put it in the bottom of a shoe. If you walk around on it all day, the heat and repeated pressure would turn the kief into hash… don’t judge me.

Or better yet, if you take that kief, put it in between two pieces of parchment paper and then press it with a hair straightener, you can make rosin at home (a full-burn hash you can dab), which is perfectly legal to do. Yeah, this tidbit is a little pointless as well given that we sell professionally-made rosin in our shop for $30 per gram out-the-door and you won’t need a hair straightener, but who knows? Maybe you have a bunch of kief in your stashbox and you’re looking for something to do. If so, you’re welcome.

See? Some of the things we came up with before cannabis was legalized in Colorado are worth keeping even though they’re no longer necessary—after all, you shouldn’t throw the baby out with the bong water (or something like that). And just about everyone who works at The Greenery has been around the block per the ways of an old-school smoker, so if you’d like some advice on homemade pipes, or if you’d like to come buy some kief for homemade hash, come see us at 208 Parker avenue and bring your valid I.D. proving that you’re 21 or older. We’ll send you on your way with a few old-school tips, because We’re Your Best Buds!

Cannabis Dinner Parties

cannabis dinner, cannabis dinner parties, cannabis durango, durango cannabis, dispensaries, dispensary, durango, durango co, dispensary durango co, durango co dispensary, the greenery, durango, durango co, dispensary, dispensary durango, dispensary durango co, dispensaries durango, dispensaries durango co, dispensaries, dispensary near me, CBD, CBD oil, the greenery durango, marijuana dispensary, marijuana, cooking cannabis, cooking with cannabis, cooking with marijuana, cannabis brownies, marijuana brownies, cannabis recipes

Cannabis dinner parties. They exist. And I mean, why not? Pot is just like everything else in our culture in that trendy things come and go, and right now, cannabis dinner parties are pretty popular. The big cities even have licensed chefs on Craigslist who will come into your home and do all the cooking for you; they’ll create three-course meals centered on infused edibles and they’ll dole out some cannabis education while they’re at it. Sure, that sounds fun, but it also sounds expensive, and Durango isn’t one of those “big cities” in the first place. So, if you live in a mountain town like ours and you want to throw a cannabis dinner party, you must do it yourself.

I’m going to tell you exactly how to do it, but first, I need to drop a few disclaimers. For one, if you plan on throwing a cannabis dinner party, please make sure all your guests designate a driver. It’s just as illegal to drive under the influence of cannabis as it is when it comes to alcohol, and it’s dangerous, so do the grownup thing. Secondly, edibles can take up to an hour to kick in, so please keep that in mind, and communicate this fact to all your guests. Trust me, you don’t want your friends to overindulge in the beginning, because by the end of dinner, they’ll turn into drooling zombies who won’t get off your couch. You don’t want that. Third, the state-recommended serving size is 10mg, so you’ll want to design your dinner in a way that makes it so a guest can enjoy all three courses without exceeding 10mg total THC—this can be a bit tricky to do, but don’t worry, I’ll walk you through it. And for the record, there’s nothing wrong with consuming more than 10mg of THC, just like there’s nothing wrong with having more than one beer. It’s just important to know your preferred serving size when it comes to THC, and if any of your guests are newbies, it’s important to keep things in check so they have a good time. And lastly, it’s important to offer non-infused options for those designated drivers; the only thing worse than not being able to get high is not being able to eat as well.

Alright. I’m going to give you three example recipes so you can cover an appetizer, a main course, and a dessert, but I’m going to keep things simple so you don’t have to put in too much work (because that’s not what pot is about).

1.) Let’s start with a salad. A good salad is healthy and classy, and it breaks that brownie-only paradigm most people have when it comes to infused edibles. And in this case, we’re going to infuse the dressing—doing so makes it easy to control your serving size, and all you’d have to do for those designated drivers is offer some regular dressing to keep them sober. So, get yourself some good romaine lettuce, croutons, and anchovy filets for a garnish, and then combine all these ingredients for the dressing:

  • ½ TSP anchovy paste
  • 1 TBS lemon juice
  • 1 clove garlic, finely minced
  • ¼ cup parmesan cheese
  • ½ TSP Dijon mustard
  • ½ TSP Worcestershire
  • ½ cup mayonnaise
  • 1/8th TSP each, salt and pepper
  • 2, 10mg packets Ripple Pure 10.

This dressing recipe will make five servings, and if you do the math, after adding the 20mg THC, each serving will contain roughly 3mg THC given what will be left over in the dressing bowl. So, do you see what I’m doing? If you create three courses, each containing about 3mg THC, the entire dinner will give each guest the target 10mg of THC. Math is your friend when it comes to edibles. And my choice to use Ripple in the first course was intentional: Ripple is made with a water-soluble THC distillate (I wrote a whole blog on the subject that you can read HERE), which means it will kick in much sooner than something lipid-soluble. This means that your guests will start to feel the high right in the middle of your main course; that’s next-level hosting.

Now, onto the main course. Since I started with an infused topping, I’m going to stay in that lane and give you a recipe for a badass gravy. You can put it on steak or chicken or potatoes, and people who are trying to stay sober can simply go without gravy. But I’m just going to give you the ingredients (if you don’t know how to make gravy, you shouldn’t be hosting dinner parties):

  • 1 cup chicken stock
  • 1 beef bouillon cube
  • ½ TBS canna-butter
  • 3 ½ TBS unsalted butter
  • 1/8th cup flour
  • ½ TSP onion powder
  • 1/8th TSP thyme
  • ¼ TSP sage
  • ½ TSP rosemary
  • ¼ TSP each, salt and pepper

Please don’t let that “canna-butter” ingredient scare you because it’s relatively easy to make. I wrote an entire blog about the process that you can read HERE. If you follow my instructions, a ½ tablespoon will contain 20mg THC, and once again, if you split this gravy into five equal portions, each guest will get just over 3mg, thereby bringing our two-meal total to just over 6mg THC. But please remember, if you’re not up to making your own canna-butter, you can simply add two packets of Ripple to the gravy and achieve the same results.

Onto dessert! If you clicked that last “HERE” I gave you, you read directions on how to make infused oil. And if you make infused oil and then do a quick google search for oil-based brownie recipes, you can serve your guests pot brownies topped with ice cream for the final course. But I’m going to pretend that you’re a lazy stoner like I am, and since cooking two courses is tiring, we’re going to make dessert easy. Here are the ingredients:

  • Ice Cream
  • 4oz melting chocolate
  • 2 – Coda single-serving hot-chocolate on a spoon.

If you mix all the chocolate together, melt it, and then pour it over five servings of ice cream, that will give your guests another 3mg THC each, and then everyone will be sitting comfortably at about 10mg each after the dinner is over. And then if you throw in a couple grab-bags for your guests containing after-dinner joints and whatnot, it’ll be a dinner party worth putting on Pinterest (but I don’t know if you’re allowed to pin pot stuff).

Of course, cannabis dinner ideas are limited only by your imagination, and for inspiration, there are all sorts of sites like THIS one that’ll give you all the ideas you need to be Martha Stewart crossed with Snoop Dog in the kitchen. And we sell all the pot-related stuff you’ll need to complete these recipes right here in our Durango dispensary. So, if you’re thinking about throwing a cannabis dinner party, bring your valid I.D. proving that you’re 21 or over and come see us at 208 Parker Ave, because We’re Your Best Buds!

Cooking with Cannabis

the greenery, durango, durango co, dispensary, dispensary durango, dispensary durango co, dispensaries durango, dispensaries durango co, dispensaries, dispensary near me, CBD, CBD oil, the greenery durango, marijuana dispensary, marijuana, cooking cannabis, cooking with cannabis, cooking with marijuana, cannabis brownies, marijuana brownies, cannabis recipes

I’m not sure why I’ve waited so long to write a blog like this one because customers ask me frequently about cooking with the cannabis they buy in our Durango dispensary. Maybe it’s because we sell about seven billion different types of edibles, and it might be a bit pointless to make an edible when you can simply buy one that’s made by state-regulated professionals. But I don’t want to leave all you do-it-yourselfers in the lurch, so this week, we’re going to dive into the subject.

There are two different ways to make infused edibles at home (which is perfectly legal to do so long as you live here in Colorado). The easiest way is to come into our shop and buy some oil or powdered distillate that you can mix in with your recipe, but this isn’t the method most people use because the end product isn’t technically “homemade,” so we’ll discuss the other method first: homemade infused oil or canna-butter.

The biggest mistake most newbies make is to not decarboxylate their cannabis before starting this process. All the THC (the stuff that gets you high) is in its acid form in raw flower (THCa), so even if you ate the pot straight, or mixed it in with a recipe, it wouldn’t get you high. That’d be a huge waste, so, as step number one, coarsely grind your flower and then bake in on a sheet in your oven at 250 degrees for about thirty minutes. If you grind the flower too finely, it’ll add a burnt taste to your recipe, and if you cook it at too hot a temperature, you’ll degrade all the THC, which will also lead to disappointing sobriety. And if this is your first rodeo, I’d suggest starting with 7 to 14 grams of flower at most so you don’t waste a lot of weed when you mess up. It happens.

Alright… now that you have some coarsely-ground, decarboxylated flower, the next step is to infuse some oil or butter so you can get that cannabis into your belly. It’s always best to use a one-to-one ratio—in other words, mix one cup of oil or butter with one cup of the decarboxylated flower. Some people go overboard with this process and try to use tons of pot, but there’s only so much THC that’ll bind with the lipids in your oil/butter, so don’t do this because it’s also a waste (wasting pot is sacrilegious). Now, as step two, take that one-to-one mixture and cook it in a pan on your stovetop for about ten minutes. This time, you’re using the heat to get the THC into the oil or butter, not to decarboxylate the THC, so it’s best to use a very low temperature; you never want your mixture to boil. And then for step three, let the mixture cool for a bit so it’s safe to handle, and then strain it through a cheesecloth into a jar; the cheesecloth will remove all the plant matter from your infused butter or oil. Boom! Now you have infused oil or butter, and all you need to do is use it instead of regular oil or butter in your favorite recipe to make a marijuana edible.

But here comes the hard part: how potent is that oil you just made? Before I get into that, I need to drop a few disclaimers. I work in a recreational marijuana dispensary, and as such, I’m not allowed to recommend an edible serving that’s over 10 milligrams of THC (which is plenty). Secondly, I’m about to give you an equation to use to figure out potency, but I cannot guarantee its accuracy; what follows is only for rough estimations. Here it is:

  • Take the number of grams of flower you used to make your oil and multiply it by 1000 (all this does is convert the weight into milligrams). For the rest of this example equation, we’re going to assume you took my advice and started your first batch with seven grams, so, 7 X 1000 = 7000.
  • Next, look at the bottle of flower you bought from us and find the THC percentage, and then convert it into a decimal. For example, if you bought some of the Sour Grape that’s on our menu as I’m typing this, the THC percentage is 20%, so the decimal equivalent is 0.20.
  • Now, multiply the figure from step one by the figure from step two: 7000 X 0.20 = 1400. This will give you the total number of THC milligrams in your oil or butter.
  • Next, figure out how many tablespoons of oil or butter you mixed with the flower. With 7 grams of flower, I’d recommend using two cups of oil or butter, which is 32 tablespoons.
  • Now, divide the total number of THC milligrams from step 3 by the total number of tablespoons from step 4. So, 1400 / 32 = 43.75. This means you can assume that every tablespoon of oil/butter that you just made contains about 40mg THC.

But please remember my disclaimers! This equation works well for rough estimates only because there are too many variables. Maybe you cooked the oil longer than necessary or didn’t decarboxylate the flower enough; there are all sorts of human errors that can mess up the math. So, the best bet is to always try eating a quarter tablespoon of the oil or butter you made when it’s safe to get high; if the pot you used was in that 20% THC range, a quarter tablespoon should give you about 10mg THC if you followed my instructions. And if you’re a regular consumer of edibles, you’ll know what that feels like. If not, come in and buy a 10mg single-serve cookie, eat it, and take notes as to how the high felt. It’s always best to wait an hour and a half for the full effect to kick in, and since you’re essentially doing an experiment at home, it’s always best to time that hour and a half with a clock so you can be sure of the results. And then the next day, try a quarter tablespoon of your homemade oil, time the hour and a half, take notes, and then compare your findings. Since you won’t be able to use a lab to test the potency of your oil like the pros do with recreational edibles, this method is the best one to determine the potency of your homemade infused oil or butter.

Now, unfortunately, we’re not quite done with math because we need to figure out the serving size for the edible you make with your oil or butter. For example, a basic brownie recipe that uses oil calls for ¾ of a cup, which is 12 tablespoons. In this instance, I’d recommend using a half-and-half mixture of infused oil and regular oil, or 6 tablespoons of infused oil and 6 tablespoons of regular oil. With the equation we used above that determined our oil contained 40mg THC per tablespoon, it would mean that our brownie mix contains 240mg of THC (6 X 40 = 240). So, once the brownies were baked, you’d have to cut 24 equal-sized brownies to get brownies that contained 10mg THC each (240 / 10 = 24). As one last disclaimer, I’d recommend doing this entire process sober, so you don’t mess up the math. That way, you aren’t trusting “pot luck.” Get it?

Alright, now onto the quickest method: simply buy some CO2 oil or Ripple from us and mix it into your recipe. For real, this method is super easy. For example, we sell bottles of Ripple for $29, and they contain 10, 10mg packs of tasteless, odorless THC distillate powder. So, if you mixed up some regular brownie mix, dumped in ten packs of Ripple, baked the brownies, and then cut out ten brownies, each one would contain 10mg THC. See? It only took me a paragraph to write instructions for this version as opposed to the 1,200 words it took me to tell you how to start from scratch.

That being said, cooking with CO2 oil requires a bit of math, but it’s a much more economic route to take. For example, the bottle of Ripple I told you about contains 100mg of THC for $29, but a one-gram oil syringe that sells for $60 contains around 750mg of THC. I’ve already done a ton of math, so it won’t hurt to do more—for the Ripple, each milligram of THC costs $0.29 as where with the oil, each milligram of THC will cost you $0.08, and you get more than seven times as much THC with the oil. So, let’s get into that equation (I promise it’ll be quick):

Look at the label on the syringe of oil. If you bought it from us, it’ll tell you how many milligrams of THC are contained therein. The one that’s on my desk as I write this contains 750mg of THC. So, if you were to use half of the oil in the batch of whatever you’re cooking, you’d infuse the batch with 375mg THC. So, if you used that amount of oil to make a batch of brownies, you’d want to cut it into 38 pieces to get brownies that contained 10mg THC each. But as a tip, when cooking with CO2 oil, it’s very, very important to evenly distribute the oil into the batter and mix it thoroughly. If you don’t, the oil might stay in one place, and you could end up with a couple brownies that get you way too high and a lot of brownies that don’t do anything besides taste like brownies. There. We’ve covered it all, from mixing in something premade to starting from scratch.

Since this is such a popular topic, I’ll write another piece for you in a week or two because this blog is already too long—I’ll talk about cannabis dinner parties and give you a few recipes, so stay tuned. But until then, come on in with your valid I.D. proving you’re over 21 and see us at 208 Parker Avenue right here in Bodo Park. Quite a few of our budtenders know about cooking with Cannabis in Durango, so if you have any questions while you’re here, feel free to ask, because We’re Your Best Buds!

Different Marijuana Strains

the greenery, durango, durango co, dispensary, dispensary durango, dispensary durango co, dispensaries durango, dispensaries durango co, dispensaries, dispensary near me, CBD, CBD oil, the greenery durango, marijuana dispensary, marijuana

Please keep an open mind when I tell you this: it’s very important to stop thinking that you really like a specific strain just because you “tried it this one time” and really liked it. And it’s also important to stop thinking that you don’t like a strain because you didn’t like it that “one time.” Trust me.

I can’t tell you how many times it’s happened to me. A customer will walk in and ask something like, “what’s your best sativa strain right now?” I’ll say something like, “the White Widow is wonderful,” to which this hypothetical customer will respond, “oh, no thank you; I tried some White Widow once and it was horrible.” This is when I take a deep breath and explain that not all White Widows are created equally, but what I really want to do is say this:

Imagine two White Widow seeds siting on a table. A monkey walks up to the table and takes home one of the seeds; he grows it in a ditch and waters it with barbecue sauce. The other seed is taken home by a scientist. He grows it professionally in his lab under specifically engineered lights while controlling the CO2 in the air to increase photosynthesis. Now, if you were to wait until both plants were mature, and then set them side-by-side, they’d look nothing alike. If you smoked a little of each, they’d neither taste nor smell anything alike (the monkey’s pot would remind you of brisket). And the high that came from each plant would differ greatly.

Do you see what I’m getting at? We’re the scientists in this situation. It doesn’t mean that you won’t like our White Widow just because you didn’t like the White Widow you got from a monkey elsewhere. After all, way back when, growers named the strains they bred simply to keep track of them, and because it was cool. But now, those names have morphed into brands, and as such, people think they know what to expect from a certain strain. Nothing could be further from the truth, so as a PSA, I’d like to tell you this: when it comes to cannabis strains, the name isn’t nearly as important as most people think. What matters is who grew the plant, and how they did it.

This is especially important for you strain-chasers out there because, for an example, there are about three Durango dispensaries selling Gorilla Glue #4 right now, but you’ll pay different prices per gram at each place. This is frustrating because shoppers will chase the lowest price thinking that all strains of Gorilla Glue #4 are the same because they share a name, which is simply false. Think about it this way: Pabst Blue Ribbon is a lager, and you can buy a thirty-pack for about $17. Samuel Adams’ Utopias is also a lager, but it costs $150 for a single bottle. Not all lagers are equal in price or quality in the same way that not all Gorilla Glue #4 strains are equal. And a few months ago, I wrote a blog on how to identify high-quality cannabis (you can read it HERE), but this week, I wanted to give you a few pointers on how to tell if the pot you’re about to smoke es no bueno. So, watch out for these three things:

1.) “PM,” or “powdery mildew.” PM looks exactly like it sounds (a white powder), and to the untrained eye, PM can look like trichomes, which are the white crystals you want on your pot. True, the state requires all flower to be tested for microbials before a batch of bud can be sold recreationally, but you’ll still find PM on recreational bud, especially if you’re buying the cheap stuff. The reason for this is that after the flower passes its microbial test, and after it’s sent to a dispensary, it can sit there for months which gives trace amounts of PM time to grow. Disclaimer: THIS NEVER HAPPENS AT THE GREENERY! We take the small-batch approach with our growing and ordering, so our flower always sells out while it’s fresh. You’re welcome.

2.) Aphids. I’m not joking: I’ve seen recreational flower sold in Colorado that’s crawling with bugs. So, look at your pot—if it’s moving, it’s no good. The state also requires that all recreational flower be tested for residual pesticides, so I guess some people might be passing that test by simply letting the bugs have free-range. Gross.

3.) Brown Leaves. When the green on flower is replaced by brown, it means one of three things happened: either the pot was burned by the fertilizers, or the grow lights, or the flower wasn’t cured properly. For the record, brown pot won’t hurt you, but if you see brown edges on the flower, it’s a likely sign that the terpene or THC content is lower than it should be. So, again, if you’re hunting around for some Gorilla Glue #4, try paying attention to the color more so than the price; it’s just good advice. I’ve written blog after blog about The Greenery Grow, but just as a reminder, you should click HERE to learn about why you’ll never have to check our flower for any of these three detractors.

The last reason you shouldn’t get stuck on a single strain because you liked it “that one time” is availability. Thanks to rampant crossbreeding, there are well over 4,000 strains of marijuana available recreationally in Colorado. So, if you were to walk into a dispensary looking for a particular strain, the chances of actually finding it are one in four thousand—statistically speaking, you have the same chances of finding your strain as you would flipping a quarter twelve times and having it land on heads each time. That doesn’t happen very often.

So, instead of walking into a shop and then turning away when they don’t have the strain you’re looking for, ask for something similar. In our Durango dispensary, we train our budtenders on how to look up a strain and its reported effects; they can also figure out your favorite strain’s lineage. We make our budtenders smoke every strain we offer (it’s a rough life) so they can become familiar with what we sell, and I promise that each budtender you’ll meet here can find you a strain that’s similar to (or better than) the strain you’re looking for. So, if you’re stuck in a rut with a favorite strain, or if you want to find the absolute best representation of your favorite strain, come see us at 208 Parker Avenue right here in Bodo Park (please bring your valid I.D. proving that you’re over 21). We’ll help you find what you’re looking for and we’ll explain why quality matters more than price or a name, because We’re Your Best Buds!

Marijuana Paraphernalia

the greenery, durango, durango co, dispensary, dispensary durango, dispensary durango co, dispensaries durango, dispensaries durango co, dispensaries, dispensary near me, CBD, CBD oil, the greenery durango, marijuana dispensary, marijuana

Do you know the difference between a “pipe” and a “bowl,” or the difference between a “bong” and a “water pipe”? Well, there isn’t one, and that’s the sort of thing that confuses many of our customers. But if you think about it, it’s not their fault: marijuana paraphernalia is used all over the planet, and just like with everything else, regional slang terms rarely stay in the region they come from, and the different terms eventually become interchangeable (just like “sub” and “hoagie” and “po’ boy” all mean “big sandwich”). As such, there are all sorts of colloquialisms we use to describe this or that piece of paraphernalia, and this week, I’ve decided to talk about all of them (or most of them, at least) to clear up some of the confusion. If you’re a regular smoker, most of these terms will be familiar, but you should keep reading anyway; give yourself a point for each term you already know. Let’s get started…

The word “bong” refers to a tall pipe that filters the smoke through water; it’s as simple as that. But a long time ago—at least, it was a long time ago here in Colorado—the word “bong” was taboo. If you went into a headshop and asked for a bong, you’d get kicked out because the term “bong” was associated with marijuana which used to be illegal, so you had to ask for a “water pipe” instead. Yeah, it’s stupid, but marijuana paraphernalia used to be just as illegal as marijuana, so the headshops had to follow the rules and be militant about not selling “bongs,” even though they were. In this case, the two terms were spawned by what was legal and what wasn’t, but all you really need to know is that the term “bong” and “water pipe” refer to the same thing (and now, you can say “bong” all day long in headshops and they’re cool with it). But as a disclaimer, if the bong is really small, or if it’s the shape of a pipe, it’s called a “bubbler” because of the noise the smoke makes as it goes through the water.

As to the bong itself, the glass tube through which the smoke travels down into the water is called the “stem,” and some stems have lots of holes in them to diffuse the smoke in the water—in this instance, the stem is called a “diffuser.” But if the bong is super fancy, it’ll have a “percolator,” which is a separate chamber that diffuses the smoke a second time through a “tree,” which is just a bunch of smaller diffusers. And a lot of bongs will have an “ice catch,” which is nothing more than a depression in the bong tube that’s designed to hold ice cubes to cool your hits (I’m a big fan of these). Lastly, if the bowl of the bong is on top, and there are multiple mouthpieces that allow more than one person to smoke at once, you’re smoking a “hookah,” not a bong.

Alright, on to pipes. The term “pipe” is the most common term (obviously), but words like “piece” or “bowl” are thrown around quite a bit as well. Most of the other terms refer to the shape or size of the pipe. For instance, the word “Gandalf” refers to a pipe with a long, arching stem, just like the one Gandalf smoked throughout the movies. Also, for the record, Gandalf was a total stoner, and if you don’t believe me, Saruman has my back—in the Hobbit movie, he told Gandalf that his “love for the halflings’ leaf has slowed your mind,” which is an obvious pot reference (yeah, I’m a nerd). And if the Gandalf pipe is smaller than something a wizard might use, it’s called a “Sherlock” thanks to the famous detective’s favorite pipe. If the pipe has a flattened mouthpiece, it’s called a “spoon” because it looks like one. And some old-school pipes have a metal chamber in between the bowl and mouthpiece into which you can put a small amount of flower (the smoke flows over the bud and coats it with resin which makes it more potent); these pieces are called “chamber pipes.”

If the pipe has a large carb (the hole you cover with your finger) on the end instead of the side, it’s called a “steamroller” because when you take your finger off the hole, the direct path of air hits you like a steamroller. Or, if you load your flower into the front of the pipe instead of the top, the pipe is called a “chillum,” which is a term that dates back to when people would use “chillers” to hold their cigarettes just like Cruella de Vil did when she wasn’t busy trying to catch dalmatian puppies. Or, if the pipe is really small, it’s called a “sneak-a-toke” for obvious reasons. But if the pipe is small and you load a small amount into the front of it, it’s called a “bat.” Some bats are made from glass, but they’re usually metal and painted to look like a cigarette for discretion. And to take things a step further, a bat fits into a “dugout,” which is a wooden block that has been dug out to make room for a bat and a small amount of flower (we sell these in our Durango dispensary, so if you need a visual, come see us).

The most self-expletory piece of paraphernalia is a “grinder,” which is a small box you use to grind flower. If you grind your pot and roll it into a joint and then smoke it until not much is left, this is called a “roach” because the burnt end looks like a roach. And as you’d imagine, it’s difficult to hold the roach because it’s so small, so most people use a hemostat to hold it. But since we’re stoners, we don’t use words like “hemostat”: we prefer “alligator clip” or “roach clip.” I know I just used a couple terms like “joint” that don’t pertain to paraphernalia, but don’t worry, if you’re fuzzy on marijuana-related words, I wrote an entire piece on the subject that you can read HERE.

Moving on.

As I’m sure you know, new-school cannabis concentrates, or “dabs,” are becoming quite popular, and with them comes a whole new litany of slang terms, so I’ll get into that, too. The simplest device is a “vape pen,” but these are also called “dab pens” or “hash pens.” Vape pens are comprised of two components: the “battery” and the “vape cartridge,” or the “cart” for short, but we also sell all-in-one “disposable vape pens” that are super simple to use.

The next step up would be a “dab rig,” which is a specially-designed pipe you use to dab concentrates. Besides the rig, you’ll also need a “torch” and a “dabber.” You use the butane torch to heat the “nail,” and you use the dabber (which is sometimes called a “dab tool”) to apply the concentrate to the nail—nails can be made from titanium, quartz, glass, or porcelain. But if the dab rig has a bowl you heat instead of a nail, the bowl is called the “banger.” Granted, if this is something you’re interested in trying, I’d recommend coming into our shop for a demonstration because it’d be easier to show you how it works than to explain it, but I’m going to soldier on.

Some rigs have a glass “dome” that goes over the nail, but if the rig has a banger instead of a nail, it usually has a “carb cap” as well, which is something you put on top of the bowl after putting in the concentrate so smoke doesn’t escape. The last thing you need to know per rigs is that some of them are pretty high-tech; they have an “e-nail” which is an electronically-heated nail that doesn’t require a torch.

However, some people who prefer dabs don’t like the size and inconvenience of using a dab rig, so they’ll use a “wax pen,” which is a pocket-sized, electronic device into which dabs can be placed. But it’s difficult to get a huge hit from a wax pen, so some people prefer to use a “dab straw,” which is a long tube made from glass or metal. You heat the tip of the straw with your torch, and then put it directly into the concentrate while sucking through the straw (which is why it’s called a “straw”). Lastly, if the straw is large and it has a water chamber in the middle of it, it’s called a “nectar collector.”

We’re done! I hope this cleared things up for you if you’re a novice, and if you’re a regular smoker, I’d love to know how many points you got. But if you’re still fuzzy on any of these terms, you’re more than welcome to come see us at 208 Parker Avenue or give us a shout at (970) 403-3710; we’ll answer all your questions. And of course, we sell quite a few of the aforementioned pieces of paraphernalia at a low price right here in our Durango dispensary, because We’re Your Best Buds!

Cannabis Etiquette

how to smoke marijuana, how to pack a bowl, the greenery, durango, durango co, dispensary, dispensary durango, dispensary durango co, dispensaries durango, dispensaries durango co, dispensaries, dispensary near me, CBD, CBD oil, the greenery durango, marijuana dispensary, marijuana

Smoking pot is a social thing. It breaks the ice, it forms bonds and friendships, it reminds us that being together is better than being apart. There’s simply something about cannabis culture that’s harmonious and gregarious, peace-loving and friendly, and that’s why I love this plant so much. Think about it: when alcohol comes to mind, so does belligerence and abandon, but when pot comes to mind, you picture calm smiles and companionship. But now that marijuana is becoming more mainstream, our culture is changing. Altria (the company that makes Marlboro cigarettes) just invested billions into cannabis, the companies that make Corona and Heineken are already producing cannabis-infused beer, and new stories of corporate acquisitions in the cannabis industry are popping up daily. Pot is becoming a business as opposed to a pleasant secret.

So, what’s that going to do? Is weed going to morph into a pedestrian thing just like all the other stuff you can buy in a corner store? Is the communal, loving culture that’s synonymous with cannabis going to change into blatant consumerism once weed is grown and sold by the same companies that pedal cigarettes? I don’t know. But I do know that the only way to preserve something wonderful is to talk about it and educate the masses—the only way to keep something communal is to discuss the way it brings us together and how to keep it that way. So, this week, I decided to write about how to smoke with other people in a way that preserves the culture that got us here in the first place. If you heed the following rules, you’ll avoid making a flower faux pas, and when you’re smoking with other people, you’ll come across as an OG who cares what pot is all about…

1.) Bring some if you’re invited. Remember, sharing is caring, and that’s what it’s all about. If a buddy invites you to a smoke session, bring some pot. Your buddy called you to be together, not just to get you high, so keep things equal by contributing.

2.) Pay back if you cannot contribute. If you don’t have anything to contribute to a smoke session, take a mental note, because I guarantee that whoever gets you high will remember it, and if you always show up emptyhanded, the invites will start to dwindle. It’s commonsense: if someone smokes you out, you should smoke him or her out.

3.) Think about the group, not yourself; doing so reinforces the sense of community that makes getting high together so wonderful. There are easy ways to do this:

4.) If you load the bowl, offer the first hit to someone else. The first hit, or the “green” hit, is always the most flavorful, so offering it to someone else is tantamount to offering a gift, and that’s exactly the type of thing that brings people together. Of course, there’s an exception to every rule: if you’re smoking a joint or blunt, and you rolled it, it’s okay to light it yourself and take the first hit (it’s the little reward that comes from taking the time to roll a joint).

5.) If someone offers you the first hit, don’t burn all the green in the bowl. Instead, apply the flame to the side of the bowl and burn only a little of the green so the next person in the circle gets some flavor, too. This is called taking a “hippy hit,” and hippies are all about love, which is important.

6.) Keep passing the pipe or joint to the left. If you’re a regular smoker, what I’m about to tell you will sound obscenely obvious, so please remember that I’m writing this for everyone. When people get together to smoke, they form a circle, and it’s important to pass the pipe to your left. Snoop Dog raps about this regularly, and other songs like “Pass the Dutchie on the Lefthand Side” keep the tradition alive, but there’s a reason for it you might not know. Most people are righthanded, so if you pass to your left, you’re putting the pipe directly into your neighbor’s dominant hand, so it’s easier for them to take the pot. True, if you pass to your right, it’s easier because you don’t have to cross your arm to your left, but remember, it’s not about you. It’s about the group, and it needs to stay that way.

7.) Don’t sober shame. Remember, smoking pot in a social setting is about being inclusive. If someone is standing in your circle, and he or she doesn’t want to smoke, don’t give that individual any crap for his or her choice. He or she belongs in the group just as much as you do because being friendly is more important than getting high. But if you’re that person who prefers to stay sober, take the pipe when it’s handed to you and then pass it along instead of holding up your hands and saying “no.” If you’re standing in a circle, don’t break it.

8.) Keep the pipe or joint moving. Let’s be honest: people are intrinsically self-centered, and we all like to be the center of attention. And when a pipe is handed to you, the entire circle’s attention will shift to you. Some people will revel in the spotlight, and they’ll stand there holding the pipe and start talking because everyone is watching. Don’t be that guy; nobody likes that guy. We’re watching you because you’re holding the pot, not because what you’re saying is so interesting. So, take a damn hit and then pass the pipe because we want it, too! If you can’t tell, this one is my personal pet peeve, and it’s usually everyone else’s as well. Holding the pipe and talking is called “camping” (because you’re making the pot stay in one place), and people will usually drop hints like, “hey, you plan on pitching a tent?” Or, they’ll tell you not to “bogart the pot,” because Humphry Bogart always had an unlit cigarette hanging out of his mouth. Don’t camp, don’t bogart, and we’ll all get along.

9.) Don’t slobber on the pipe. There are all sorts of derogatory and disgusting terms for this that I’m going to omit from this blog, but for the love of all things holy, don’t get your spit all over the pipe; there’s nothing worse than a wet hit. If you’re a fan of using too much Chapstick, or you notice that you slobbered the pipe inadvertently, wipe the mouthpiece discreetly on your shirt before passing the pipe to your left.

10.) Let the circle know if you’re sick. For real, the group’s health is more important than your high. If you’re sick, don’t smoke. Or, better yet, bring your own pipe or joint and let it be well-known as to why you’re not sharing. People will thank you for it, and it’s the kind thing to do, especially since more and more people are smoking now and quite a few of us have healthy kids at home to worry about.

11.) Don’t pass an empty bowl. There’s nothing more disappointing than trying to take a hit and not getting one, so if you take the last hit, announce to the group that the “bowl is cashed.” And if you’re contributing to the circle, go ahead and load a new bowl. In this scenario, it’s okay to take the green hit yourself so you don’t miss out on the rotation, but remember the hippy hit.

12.) Don’t “chaz the banger,” or “crust the nail.” Yeah, I gripe about pot becoming big business, but there are some benefits that stem from all the progression, such as the availability of new-school dabs. And with dabs, there comes a whole new litany of rules, but I’ll just list two of them and leave it at that. For one, when you offer someone else a dab, if you’re using your rig, it’s polite to heat the nail and apply the dab yourself while your friend hits. Doing so stresses the communal feel of getting high together, kind of like lighting someone else’s cigarette. But if you’re using someone else’s rig and dabs, the urge to get as high as possible off someone else’s stuff will kick in, and you might overheat the nail to get it as hot as possible to get a big hit: don’t do this. This move is selfish, which goes against the culture, but worse than that, it’ll “chaz” or “crust” the nail, which could make it break at worst, or make the next dab taste bad at best. Remember, think about other people.

See? There’s more to smoking pot than simply lighting it on fire and breathing in the smoke, and just about all of it has to do with getting along together as a group. It’s the keystone to our culture, and it’s important because if we don’t hang onto tradition, smoking pot could turn into something tawdry like taking a shot of cheap tequila at a dive bar. And this “culture” that I keep talking about is alive and well here in our Durango dispensary; we’ve built our business on it. We offer discounts to veterans and people with Colorado medical cards, because these people need it the most. We use living bugs in our grow to kill the bad bugs because we want to keep things as natural as possible. And we do everything we can to preserve the original, communal essence of the cannabis industry, because We’re Your Best Buds!

Connoisseur Cannabis

the greenery, durango, durango co, dispensary, dispensary durango, dispensary durango co, dispensaries durango, dispensaries durango co, dispensaries, dispensary near me, CBD, CBD oil, the greenery durango, marijuana dispensary, marijuana

Lately, I’ve noticed a shift. About a year ago, most shoppers would come in and ask for my “cheapest” cannabis, but now, people are requesting the “best.” I know this change is occurring, but I’m not sure why. Maybe it’s because people bought from illegal dealers less than half a decade ago, and back then, you got what you got, and price was the only variable. But now that there’s a wide variety of legal cannabis, maybe people are slowly starting to lean towards quality over price. Or maybe it’s because legal cannabis has made it so a new, affluent demographic of shopper is buying weed. Or better yet, maybe the consumer base is being educated by a legal cannabis industry, and they’re starting to figure out that you get what you pay for when it comes to pot, just like you do with everything else. I’m not sure. Either way, the cannabis culture is changing into something that values quality over the “let’s get high off something cheap” paradigm that ruled the world back when pot was sold in plastic bags on street corners.

And I can prove it—if you’re an uber pot-nerd and you’d like to read something proving that trends are changing, you can read a bona fide study HERE that was commissioned by the state’s Marijuana Enforcement Division to chart the changes in consumer purchasing trends. It shows exactly how the 302 metric tons (holy crap!) of cannabis that were sold in 2017 were allocated between flower and edibles and concentrates and whatnot. Granted, the study doesn’t delve into why the trends are changing, but it proves that they are.

But if you think about it, the “why” doesn’t really matter, and as an integral part of the legal cannabis community here in Colorado, it’s The Greenery’s job to take note of what consumers want and then provide it; that’s what we do. And this week, I wanted to write a post for all you connoisseurs out there and tell you about three top-end products that we’re selling for people with discerning tastes. Let’s get started…

1.) FSE Cartridges from Green Dot Labs.

Simply put, these are incredible. “FSE” stands for “full-spectrum extract,” which means that anything and everything you’ll find in the plant has made its way into these cartridges. Each of these carts is filled with 500mg of the purest, terpene-rich FSE on the market. Green Dot Labs uses in-house genetics for their carts (meaning they grow custom varietals to make the best concentrates) to provide Sativa, Indica, and Hybrid options. I never recommend this product for newbies because it gets you very high, but if you’re a connoisseur, this cartridge is for you because there honestly isn’t a better one on the planet.

2.) Boutique Flower from The Greenery Grow.

We really do grow the best pot in Durango. I’ve written about it before (for more, click HERE) because we’re so proud of our cultivation facility, but it’s all worth saying twice. We use good bugs to kill the bad bugs instead of using caustic pesticides; we pump CO2 particulates onto the fanleaves to increase photosynthesis; we use light-emitting ceramic bulbs that are better than the sun. We do everything possible to grow the highest-quality cannabis to ever grace this mountain town, so if you’re a connoisseur, it’s pointless to shop elsewhere.

3.) Artisanal Chocolate Truffles from Coda Signature.

Coda’s head chocolatier, Lauren Gockley, is one of the ten best in the nation, and I’m not just talking about chocolatiers who make cannabis edibles. This is one of those rare occasions wherein one of the best names in the culinary world decided to play her hand in the cannabis industry, and we’ve all won as a result. Coda’s chocolate can hold its own right alongside the best confections out there and it gets you high, which is a definite win-win. And the hand-painted truffles from Coda (which come in flavors like tiramisu, earl grey, passion fruit, and burnt caramel) are firmly in the connoisseur lane because they’re made from ethically-sourced chocolate, pure CO2 cannabis oil, and unrivaled artistry.

There you go. If you’re one of the discerning customers out there who values quality over thrift, you really should come into our Durango dispensary—we’re selling the best of the best, because if you’re a connoisseur, We’re Your Best Buds too!

December Dispensary Deals

best dispensary, budtender, buy cbd oil, cannabis, CBD, cbd colorado, cbd dispensary, cbd durango, cbd edible, cbd edibles, cbd marijuana, cbd medicine, cbd near me, cbd oil, cbd oil colorado, cbd oil dispensary, cbd oil durango, cbd oil store, Colorado, concentrates, dispensaries in durango, dispensaries in durango co, dispensaries in durango colorado, dispensary, dispensary durango, dispensary durango co, dispensary operating hours, Durango, durango co dispensary, durango dispensaries, Durango Dispensary, durango weed, edibles, fast acting gummies, fast-acting edibles, marijuana, marijuana dispensary, marijuana edibles, marijuana gummies, marijuana gummy, marijuana gummy bears, recreational marijuana, Southwest Colorado Dispensary, thc edibles, The Greenery, the greenery durango, hash, hash durango, hash colorado, colorado hash, durango hash, durango dab, dabs durango, durango dispensary deals, deals durango dispensary,

Quite a few customers who came in on Black Friday were surprised to find that we were offering sales—it’s an odd phenomenon, but for some reason, people think that since we sell marijuana here, we’re different than all the other retail stores in Durango, but we’re not. We accept debit cards, we offer coupons, we offer discounts to veterans: we do all the regular things that regular stores do, even though the product we sell isn’t yet considered “regular.” But I get it: buying legal weed is weird enough as it is, and coupons or discounts make it seem even more surreal.

So, this week, I’ve decided to write a blog centered on all the December discounts you can find in our Durango dispensary. And frankly, it’s something I need to do for myself because we have so many specials this month that it’s difficult to keep track of them all. Seriously. Let’s get started…

For one, all our daily deals are good throughout the month: on Monday, if you buy a gram of flower, your next gram is half-off, and this special can be applied to 28g purchases, which saves you a ton on the best flower in Durango. On Tuesdays, all edibles are 15% off. On Wednesdays, all concentrates are 15% off. On Thursdays, you can take 15% off one item of your choice, including up to an ounce of a single strain of flower. On Fridays, you can pick up a one-gram pre-roll for a buck after spending $50 before tax, and on Saturdays, all our solventless concentrates are 15% off. See what I mean? I haven’t even talked about any December deals, and it still took me a paragraph just to tell you about our daily dispensary deals.

Alright… as to December, we have all sorts of things popping off (the holidays matter to dispensaries just as much as to all the “regular” stores out there). For one, while supplies last, we’re offering a 25% discount on packs of sativa chocolate chip cookies and rosemary cheddar crackers from Love’s Oven, so if edibles are your thing, you should hurry in. We also have a few bottles of CBN capsules from Mary’s Medicinals that are 25% off, so if you’re looking for something that might act as a sleep aid, you should get here quickly as well. And if you’re into vaping, we’re offering a 20% discount on all our 200mg disposable vape pens from Sweet while supplies last.

But here come the big ones: Dab December and Ho Ho Hash!

Dab December: all month long (while supplies last), you can pick up two grams of Sativa House Wax or Shatter or two grams of Wax from West Edison for $50, or five grams of the same concentrates for $100. Those prices are after tax, and if you’re someone who buys dabs, I don’t have to tell you that our Dab December deal is ridiculously awesome.

Ho Ho Hash: throughout December, we’re running a special on select strains of our solventless Moroccan and Lebanese Hash. While supplies last, you can pick up one gram for $15, or five grams for $65, or eight grams (which is your daily limit) for $100. All those prices are after tax, and they’ll save you a ton—any other month, eight grams of Moroccan or Lebanese Hash would cost you $336; you don’t need to be a mathematician to figure out that a $226 discount is a big deal.

There. See why I needed to write it all out? Even now, when people come in and ask, “do you have any deals going on?” I have to stop and think after saying “yes.” If I listed them all out loud, it’d take a while and I’d probably forget a few, so now, you and I both have a blog we can read for a reminder.

That being said, the real reason I wanted to write this was to wish you and yours a happy holiday season. This time of year is always magical, and we need all the well-wishes that can be mustered given all the craziness that’s out there in the world. So, if you need a little something to brighten your days or a gift for the cannabis lover in your life (yes, we sell gift cards, and we’re even offering a $5 bonus on each $50 gift card), come see us and our December deals at 208 Parker Avenue, but make sure to bring your valid I.D. that proves you’re twenty-one or older. We’ve packed December full of all sorts of savings, because We’re Your Best Buds!

What to do if you get too high.

the greenery, durango, durango co, dispensary, dispensary durango, dispensary durango co, dispensaries durango, dispensaries durango co, dispensaries, dispensary near me, CBD, CBD oil, the greenery durango, marijuana dispensary, marijuana

We’ve all been there, me included. I’ve found myself under the covers in a little ball after too many edibles; I’ve been out with friends after a dab too many thinking that the world was out to get me. Everyone I know has a “dude, I got way too high this one time” story because it’s difficult to find that perfect high without crossing the line at least once (one of my coworkers ended up in a tree). And yes, when it comes to cannabis, moderation is the key just like it is with everything else, but that’s the kind of platitude that doesn’t do anything after the fact. So, this week, I figured it’d be a good idea to give you a few tips on what to do if you have one hit or one cookie too many; here we go…

1.) Don’t panic, because that just makes the experience worse. Remember, cannabis is comparably safe—after all, you can overdose on water and die if you drink too much, but even a ludicrous amount of pot won’t kill you. If you get too high, simply remind yourself that everything is going to be okay and breathe deeply.

2.) Eat. You get munchies after smoking for a reason (your body knows what it needs), and if you get too high, I’d recommend giving into the urge to stuff your face. Just like with other intoxicants, I’ve found that a belly-full of food takes off the edge. And please take this with a grain of salt, but Neil Young swears that black pepper takes away some of the high, or at least the anxiety, so try seasoning your food liberally if you’re eating to combat a high.

3.) Drink water. Frankly, this is good advice even if you’re not too high, but water helps to flush everything out of your system, not just THC, so stay hydrated!

4.) Try taking some CBD. I wrote an entire blog about marijuana myths that you can read HERE because a lot of people think that CBD cancels out a THC high, but it doesn’t. If you take CBD in concert with THC, it adds something to the high rather than taking away from it, but the calming effects of CBD can definitely take the edge off; this is the stoner’s version of “hair of the dog.”

5.) Take a bath. There’s something about hot water that seems to fix everything, and it’s no different when it comes to cannabis. If you get too high, try taking a hot bath or a long shower. Worst case scenario, you’ll be too high in the shower, which is way better than being out in public with all the crazies.

6.) Find something to do. Most of the symptoms associated with an extreme high are in your head (just like the rest of life’s harmless nonsense), so if you distract yourself with a movie (“The Princess Bride” is my recommendation), you’ll be able to think about something else until sobriety comes your way.

7.) Exercise. The cannabinoids in your system are metabolized just like anything else you take in to your body, so if you want to get through it more quickly, go for a brisk walk—you’ll burn calories while sobering up, which is a win-win. Of course, there’s another side to this coin: if you want to hold onto your high because it’s just right, sit on the couch and enjoy the ride.

8.) Find a friend. Most of the issues that stem from an insane high are psychological, so if you get paranoid and anxious, call a friend (if they get annoyed, blame it on me). Having someone to talk you down and soothe the insanity can really help. Hell, if you don’t have a friend, give us a call at (970) 403-3710 and one of our budtenders will chat with you.

And that’s that. As I said in the beginning, it’s best to not to overindulge in the first place. Actually, it was Benjamin Franklin who said, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” but that axiom might not relate to our industry because an ounce of anything we sell would definitely be too much of a good thing. But what makes our Durango dispensary different is the fact that we’ll actually tell you to take it easy when you’re shopping here as opposed to selling you as much pot as possible. We’ve trained our budtenders to explain edible serving sizes, and the THC percentage associated with every strain we sell is listed clearly, so you’ll never end up with something more potent than you can handle. The pleasant experience you have with the products we sell is just as important to us as the experience you have while you’re in our store, because after all, We’re Your Best Buds!