Old school revisited

I have been smoking weed for years and always held my hits in as long as possible. I am now thinking that maybe I should smoke weed like a cigarette without holding it in long. Has there been any research into what’s most effective and is less harmful to the lungs?

—A Reader

Gone are the days when people thought you needed to hold in a hit as long as possible to let that good THC swirl around in your lungs. Giant coughing jags and teary eyes are so last century. The new way is to just take a good hit and let it out normally. You get the same high, but with no lung irritation, less coughing and less tar. If you would like to invite me over to give you some tips and pointers, let me know.

Being of old school, I always thought the best part of a sativa plant was those resin-covered tiny leaves adjoining mature flowers. Modern practice is to cut those off and I guess use those for ointments, etc. For old-school smokers like me, isn’t this the best part? And whatever happened to those juicy roaches dripping with resin? Nowadays, the “extremely potent new strains” don’t seem any better than an old “seeds & stems” $10 Mexican baggie of days of yore. Are my sensors fried or are we missing something? Thoughts?

—Ol’ Gnarly

What can I say, OG? The world has changed. Growers used to give shake (the leaves and tiny trimmed buds) away for free, but now shake is a prized commodity because it is so versatile. People use shake for ointments, sure, but also to make concentrates and butter and edibles and all those pre-rolled joints you find at your favorite dispensary. In fact, some growers don’t even have to trim their harvests anymore. Extraction companies have been known to buy whole trees right off the farm. I’m not sure if I agree that the little leaves are the best part, though. Nothing beats a big, fat, well-cured bud, IMHO. By the way, resinous roaches (say that three times fast) aren’t all that good for you. I know that “hobo hash” (the resin left in the chamber of your pipe, for example) used to be considered a delicacy, but really, it’s just tar-filled gunk. Don’t smoke it. Better to roll a fresh joint. As to all the new strains, I kinda feel you on that too. Everything is so sweet these days. Sometimes it’s like smoking candy. Sometimes I pine for the days of a good, earthy strain like Panama Red or a chocolatey Thai Stick, but I’m not trying to go back to the days of waiting hours for the weed man to come by. What can I say. Things change. We no longer smoke hash between two hot knives. Try your best to enjoy the future.