Your first time smoking weed will be an interesting one. You’ve seen the movies, heard the stories, and smelled cannabis before, but being high for the first time is an incomparable experience.
As with any experience, it’s important to come prepared and know what to expect. Imagine how different your experience with alcohol would be had someone told you the effects of consuming too much!
Aside from consuming too much, there’s no objectively right or wrong way to go about smoking weed for the first time. That being said, there are some best practices that you should follow to ensure that your first time getting high goes as smoothly as possible.
First Time Smoking Weed? You Might Not Feel Anything
For many first-time weed smokers, the psychoactive effects of cannabis are either reportedly not felt or not felt to a degree where there’s a discernible difference.
There are several reasons why this could be.
For starters, you might not know how to start smoking the first time you try smoking weed. Knowing how to properly inhale and hold the smoke within your lungs before exhaling comes with practice. Additionally, the throat and/or lung irritation that follows after that first hit might dissuade you from trying again.
Those who try weed for the first time might not even know what to look for. Feelings of excitement, unease, and nervousness might also overshadow the smoke’s effects and the feelings of the smoking experience.
If this is the case, you can either try using a different consumption method such as ingestion through a tincture or vaporization through a vape pen or learn to inhale properly, which we’ll discuss in the next section.
Learn to Inhale Properly
There’s a marked difference between holding cannabis smoke or vapour in your mouth and circulating it through your lungs. The former will only dry out your mouth while the latter will help you feel the effects.
Suppose you’re smoking a joint or a vape pen for the first time, discerning how large of a breath you should be taking with each use is key. Take too large, and a coughing fit will dissuade you from trying again. Too small, and you’ll glean nothing from experience. The proper amount is in-between these 2 extremes – a smaller breath than regular breathing but sufficient enough to feel like you’re actually breathing.
With a good amount of smoke/vapour in your mouth, we’re able to circulate that THC through our lungs. After your initial breath, take another one immediately after before exhaling. This forces the smoke/vapour to enter your lungs and to circulate throughout your body.
Doing this properly will result in some mild throat irritation. This is normal. After some time, your lungs will adapt, and you’ll be able to smoke weed without any problems.
Staying Hydrated on Your First Time Smoking Weed
Smoking and vaping are infamous for drying out your mouth as the hot smoke/vapour stays in your mouth, the saliva and mucus that keep it moist end up dissipating.
Not to mention, one of the side effects of cannabis is dry mouth, also known as cottonmouth. THC, the chief psychoactive compound found within cannabis, binds with cannabinoid receptors in the submandibular glands. These glands produce saliva and keep our mouths moist. THC signals these receptors to stop producing saliva, which dries out our mouths.
You must have water or a beverage of your choice at the ready. Not only will this keep your mouth hydrated, but it’ll also help to soothe your throat once you finish smoking. Drinking water before you even begin trying cannabis for the first time is another good idea. It’ll protect your throat from the harsh smoke/vapour that’ll soon enter.
Have an Open Mind With Your First Time
The cannabis experience is different for everyone. Keep in mind that what feels like a high to others will feel different to you. How much you eat that particular day, your body’s physiology, and even your genetics will all play a factor in how your first time with marijuana will play out.
With that being said, it’s important to have an open mind about the experience in general. Experiencing cannabis for the first time while harbouring negative feelings about the plant and the entire experience will only serve detriment to you.
Take it slow and make sure to communicate with your friends about what’s going on and how you’re feeling, which leads us to our next point:
Bring a Friend
Getting high for the first time brings with it feelings of anxiety, paranoia, and unease. Those ambitious amongst us might even smoke too much and believe that they’re suffering from a heart attack or actually suffer from a panic attack.
Although not a common occurrence, having a close friend nearby to talk you through or join the experience will help mitigate many of these problems. Having someone experienced with weed is even better. Chances are, they’d relish the opportunity to smoke weed and get high with someone trying weed for the first time.
First Time Smoking Weed – A Step in The Right Direction
An open attitude towards cannabis is the first step towards de-stigmatizing and legitimizing the use of this therapeutic plant. Armed with our guide, your first experience smoking weed is poised to be a great experience.
If smoking weed is not your preferred method of consumption, there’s a variety of viable consumption methods to try before you swear off from the plant altogether.
Edibles in the form of tinctures, gummies, and even candies provide all the benefits of cannabis without any throat irritation or negative side effects. They’re a great stepping stone into the world of cannabis, but we caution against literally biting off more than you can chew. With edibles, going slow and keep the dose low is how you’d want things to progress.
Vapes are another great option. They’re less harsh on the throat and can be used indoors without leaving a pungent, lingering smell. Hooti Vaporizers also feature variable temperature controls, allowing you to control just how hot you want your vapour to be.
They’re also available in either fruit or strain-specific flavours, allowing you to personalize your vapour to its fullest potential.
Whichever consumption method you choose to take, make sure you know what you’re getting yourself into. We wish you the best of luck on your journey and happy trails ahead!
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