Tips from our editors: stoner gifts that are dope
1.12.2021
Translation: Jessica Johnson-Ferguson
Potheads are given so much, well, shit for Christmas. That needn’t be the case. I’m happy to help you find a perfect gift for your favourite grass-lover.
Christmas is just around the corner. And I couldn’t care less. What I do care about are the things related to the holidays. Things like get-togethers, cookies (!) and presents. As a seasoned stoner, I know what makes cannabis consumers happy. It actually doesn’t take much. I believe that you’re better off giving nothing – or your undivided attention and a good conversation – than something useless. However, we smokers are more than happy to be given the really good stuff.
Here come some grass-fuelled gift ideas for potheads. Be it for Christmas or other days of the year.
For classic consumption: head shop items
Granted, they’re not particularly original as gifts, but head shop articles are safe bets. I’m talking papes, blunts, bongs, filters and so on. However, they do require that you know the person who’ll be receiving the gift well. Find out which papers and tips they’re into, and your efforts will undoubtedly be appreciated.
Grinders always make for great presents, no matter what type of consumption we’re talking about. They’re basically pepper mills for hemp flowers.
Smoke-free pleasure: vaporisers
In Europe, many stoners don’t smoke pure weed; they dose their desired strength by adding tobacco to the crushed herb. Of course, even without the addition of tobacco, burning and smoking cannabis buds is unhealthy. Add tobacco – a neurotoxin, like alcohol – and you’ve got yourself an even unhealthier mix. Whether cannabis per se has a positive or negative effect on users’ mental or physical health is not a point I want to go into here. Let’s let experts answer that.
Instead, the solution to ditch the fumes: vape, don’t smoke.
A vaporiser, well, vaporises the herb’s ingredients – THC, CBD and the like – at 190 degrees Celsius or more without burning plant substrate.
Some vaporisers out there work similarly to an e-cigarette. The difference is that instead of a liquid, crushed weed is vaporised and inhaled directly via the device.
And then there’s the Rolls Royce of vaporisers. With a Volcano vaporiser, you fill a balloon or plastic tube with cannabis-infused air. Thanks to a valve, you can inhale said air in doses, without having to rush. Instead of passing the dutchie, a balloon goes round.
Discover more vaporising products here.
Dreaming of a green Christmas
In addition to smoking and vaping, cannabis can also be consumed orally. This tends to be tricky on several levels. And just to be clear: if you simply ingest hemp buds, there’s zero effect.
The cannabinoids in the plant material must be extracted before anything happens in the body. You can do this by using heat (smoking or vaping), alcohol or fat. What’s important to know is that most cannabinoids in freshly harvested weed are present in THC-A and CBD-A. In this A form, they have no effect on the body, which is why the A must be removed before the weed is turned into something edible or drinkable. The conversion of THC-A to THC happens through months of fermentation or selective heating at the right temperature. This process is called decarboxylation.
If you have decarboxylated hemp, it’s quite easy to use to make a good cannabis vodka, for example. Having said that, I can’t fully recommend combining alcohol and cannabis. It’s a combo that can prove particularly intoxicating. Unless you plan on taking the solution as drops only – as an essence.
This leaves only one way of turning the ingredients in their pure form into edibles: fat, that’s to say cannabis butter. Baking and cooking with weed can be very rewarding. However, a cookie – or even a grass fondue – usually takes 30 to 50 minutes to kick in. For some people, it can even take one and a half to two hours. But once this happens, the high is more intense and longer than if you inhale the ingredients. This means you really need to get the dosage right if you’re planning on eating these kinds of delicacies. Just one cookie at a time ...
It’s also advisable to bake a second tray of regular butter cookies in addition to the space cookies. And to mark them by using different icing.
I recommend the book «Backen mit Hanf» by Kathrin Gebhardt.
The book is available in German here.
When the munchies set in: snacks and heartier things
Cookies are great. Especially when they’re studded with giant chocolate chips. Whether they’re sweet or savoury, light or hearty – stoners need snacks and other treats at their disposal in addition to plenty of water.
It would be amazing if Galaxus had Jolly Time with cheddar cheese in their range. Although their yellow food colouring will stain your microwave forever, I consider them the world’s best microwave popcorn.
So apart from snacks, baked goods and other treats, a voucher for the kebab or burger joint next door could also be a good gift.
Dry eyes: relief drops
When an inexperienced smoker rubs their eyes, these will turn red. Truth be told, this would also happen to an experienced smoker like myself. The only difference being that I rub my eyes because I suffer from hay fever. If it were up to me, I’d smoke the hay, too, rather than suffer from it.
Eye drops can help calm dry, red eyes. However, the drops shouldn’t be used for longer than 30 days at a time. But how likely is that to happen, anyway?
For those who want to quit: CBD flowers
CBD flowers are not a gift I’d enjoy. That’s why I can’t recommend a specific type. The CBD flowers available from Galaxus contain under one per cent THC, which makes selling and consuming them legal. Personally, I don’t feel any effect with this type of weed. It’s about as exciting as a non-alcoholic beer.
However, I do recommend the weed from our shop to transition from illegality to legality. Perhaps it will help you decompress and get off THC grass without resorting to a legal substitute drug that can damage your kidneys, liver or spleen.
Discover our grass range here.
Martin Jud
Senior Editor
martin.jud@digitecgalaxus.chI find my muse in everything. When I don’t, I draw inspiration from daydreaming. After all, if you dream, you don’t sleep through life.
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