It’s never too late for your first toke. Seniors who are just now deciding to dip their toes into marijuana — whether it be for recreational or medical purposes — should feel as welcome in the cannabis community as anyone else.
However, before you roll a joint and prepare for your first high, you might want to take some advice, so you can be sure to make your first experience a positive one. Here are a few tips to help weed beginners prepare for a fantastic first toke.
Hydrate Like an Athlete
You would never spend an evening drinking wine or cocktails without drinking enough water in between your libations — and you should pay the same attention to your hydration when you are smoking weed. Unlike alcohol, cannabis isn’t inherently dehydrating, but you are much less likely to remember to drink water when you are high. Then, the next morning or as you come down, you could develop a headache or suffer other ramifications of dehydration, like dizziness, fatigue, rapid heart rate and more. Thus, many stoners get in the habit of pouring themselves a tall glass of H2O before sitting down to toke as a reminder to keep drinking all night long.
Use Cash Like Old Times
These days, most purchases are plastic or, worse, completely digital. If you miss the feeling of using good, old-fashioned greenbacks, you are in luck — most cannabis dispensaries deal exclusively in cash. Even in larger weed markets like California, it is difficult for pot shops to obtain financial services from banks, who fear criminal repercussions from the federal government. Thus, when you visit a dispensary for the first time, you might first make sure that your wallet has enough $20s to pay for your cannabis products.
Puff Like a Cigarette
There are all manner of methods for using cannabis. You can use cannabis topically as a lotion or salve, take capsules, administer oils and tinctures under the tongue or consume cannabis-imbued food and drink — but by far the most popular method of using weed is inhaling. To start, you might invest in pre-rolls, which are essentially marijuana cigarettes, and they should be inhaled in the exact same manner as a tobacco cig: draw the smoke into your mouth first and inhale from there. As you get more experienced, you can branch out into pipes and bongs, and perhaps eventually vapes and dabs if you need higher doses.
Go Slow Like a Broken Hip
You don’t want to use too much cannabis on your first go — or ever. A THC overdose isn’t fatal or dangerous in the long term, but it is deeply uncomfortable and likely to put you off the drug forever. You might need only a puff or two to feel the effects, but even if you don’t get high right away, you should give your body more than an hour to react fully to the compounds in the weed before partaking more. This goes with other methods of using marijuana, as well; you only want to nibble on an edible or take low-dose capsules and oils when you are new and your tolerance is low.
Invite Friends Like a Party
Even when you are using cannabis to manage a medical condition, the drug tends to be much more enjoyable when shared. If you know a few old timers who were hippies back in the day, they might be able to guide you through your first marijuana experience — though it is important to note that the sticky stuff available today is much, much stronger than the skunk weed they had in the 20th century. It is also a good idea to designate at least one person to abstain, so there is someone with a clear head in case there is a bad reaction that necessitates rational intervention.
Make Snacks Like a Feast
The first medical application of cannabis and today among the most common reasons to prescribe the drug to seniors is its ability to radically increase appetite. If you doubt that you will succumb to the munchies, you will be sorely mistaken. It is a good idea to prepare snacks ahead of your smoke session, especially if you are particular in your diet and need to avoid certain junk foods for your health.
Weed is wonderful at any age. It doesn’t matter whether your doctor wants you to use marijuana for a medical condition or whether you have been curious about the drug for decades. What does matter is that you prepare properly, so your first experience is a positive one.
