Take off for the Great White North, eh? Cold weather, snow, and gusty winds can make cannabis consumption a little more challenging in the winter. We know what happens in the dark season, out here in Western Mass. Lakes freeze, cars need to warm up before we drive ’em, household thermostats are turned up first thing in the morning, and the smell of woodstoves burning permeates the crisp, January air. Universally speaking, almost all physical matter shrinks, contracts, or becomes more dense as it loses heat, with water being the ONLY exception. You can ask George Costanza about shrinkage. Well, this phenomenon (da dah da da dah) holds true when it comes to cannabis consumption as well. Read on, true believer, and we’ll give you a few tips to help you get in the headspace you want to be in before you get frostbite.
Let’s start with your edibles. I love me some edibles. If you keep your goodies in the car overnight or in your pocket for hours while you’re outside, they’re going to freeze. Your canned beverages will burst, and your gummies, chocolates, brownie bites, and marshmallow treats are going to get a lot more firm. Like rocks. Be mindful of this and don’t crack a tooth on a frozen edible. Nothing ruins fresh tracks on a bluebird day more than an emergency trip to the dentist. Let that tasty morsel warm and soften in your mouth for a half a minute before chomping down. Besides, letting the dose absorb by letting it sit under your tongue for thirty seconds or so allows the body to access the benefits more rapidly, anyway. Try it with all your edibles for a faster onset.
Lesson Two. I don’t need to tell you how hard it is to light a joint with cold fingers, while wearing gloves, or in icy winds. We’ve all been there. As young adults, we learned to pull the jacket collar up or turn leeward to thwart the breezes. That’s the obvious difficulty and the easy fix. However, did you know that the butane in your lighter is less likely to spark for you when it’s cold? It’s true. Those hydrocarbons huddle together lower in that chamber requiring you to spin the strike wheel 3, 4, or 5 times to get a weak flame lit, if you get a flame at all. Combine that extra effort with cold fingers and wind, and it’s almost impossible to light that chairlift spliff. Here’s a pro tip: Warm the lighter in your hands or shake it before using it. Get those molecules moving and warmed up before you ask them to fire up for you. Like shaking a bottle of Yoo-Hoo before drinking (it’s great), shake up that lighter before sparking the flint.
Lastly, you might not know that temperature greatly affects the function of your vape device. Whether you have a new Crude Boys sativa cart (cha-ching) on your favorite 510 Kodo battery (cha-ching) or recently picked up a new Green Meadows disposable Tank (cha-ching), a little understanding of thermodynamics and physics could be a big help. Basically, fluids flow slower (more slowly) when they get cold. That’s a rule. That’s the viscosity you heard about in motor oil commercials: viscosity is lack of flow. You’ve experienced this concept while using ketchup and pancake syrup. Well, your vape cart is filled with a thick, viscous cannabis oil. I know you’ve tipped your device upside down to watch the bubble float to the other end. Don’t deny it, we all have. It probably moved very, very slowly. Depending on how many hits you’d taken, it might have moved even more incrementally. Like watching a glacier recede. So, this thick golden oil in the ceramic chamber gets heated by an electric current until it melts, then even more until it boils into vapor, which is where your lungs come into play. This phase change from a thick liquid (almost a solid) to a gas to be inhaled is massively affected by ambient temperatures. The colder your vape is, the less likely you’re going to be able to get a hit off it. Warm that oil up. Hold it in a warm area of the body, prop it in front of the heating vent in the car, breathe on it in your hands a dozen times, get a hair dryer…. something to make it less cold. You can hold the button without inhaling for several cycles and pre-heat the oil that way if your rig has that option, but that may eventually burn out your heating coil sooner than you’d like. Besides not getting a rip and looking like a fish trying to suck cold oil, you’ll also kill your battery. Try to keep it warm if possible.
If you’re snowmobiling, cross-country skiing, sledding, ice fishing, snowboarding, or shoveling this winter, remember your favorite High school science teacher. Then apply the lessons found in those boring physics worksheets they handed out to more effectively consume cannabis, now that you’re a free-thinking adult. Cannabis is nothing if not well-applied biology, chemistry, and physics. Use that understanding to better your experience and journey.
peace,
Mr. Hempelstilskin
