Oh no!

October 6, 2011 6:44 PM

Drug Filter: My pot smells like ammonia. Do I have to throw it out?

I have been keeping my pot in a small glass jar waiting for a couple months to partake again. I have been occasionally opening the jar to let it air out a bit, but today it smelled strongly of ammonia. It isn't the best quality, but all I have been able to find around here and replacing it would be an extra expense I don't need. What now? Is it totally bad or redeemable?

posted by anonymous to Grab Bag (18 answers total)

Best case scenario: You smoke it and achieve the desired affect.
Neutral case scenario: You smoke it. No effect.
Worst case scenario: You smoke it and die, thus immortalized as the first person in history to be killed by marijuana.

I say go for it.
posted by allseeingabstract at 6:56 PM on October 6, 2011 [13 favorites]

You've had plant matter sealed up in a jar, only occasionally letting the moisture escape. It's probably rotting, unless it's a type of bud that actually gives that smell off. But since it didn't start this way, I pick rot. Dry that stuff out, and it'll probably still be smokable. You might want to try something my grandmother used to do with her cookies. She'd put the heal from a loaf of bread in, to act as a desiccant. Don't smoke the bread though.
posted by hanoixan at 6:58 PM on October 6, 2011 [1 favorite]

Eesh, smells like ammonia? Sounds like mold. Try leaving it out to dry for a day or two and see if the smell improves. If not... ehhh, I can be a risk taker, but I'd probably turn that down if I was you.
posted by jess at 6:58 PM on October 6, 2011 [1 favorite]

get a new bag, if it was shitty to begin with, well, it just got worse!

I don't smoke weed makes me paranoid
posted by cvoixjames at 7:01 PM on October 6, 2011

I don't have a lot of rules to live by, but "don't smoke anything that smells like harmful chemicals" is surprisingly high on that short list. I wouldn't. I would just get some new weed!
posted by pazazygeek at 7:01 PM on October 6, 2011 [9 favorites]

Did you see this? A person on that board says, "ammonia smells means they packaged it up while it was still too wet and it's still 'curing' but it's not getting enough air sealed up so it ferments, releasing ammonia. just dry it out and the smell will go."

So try airing it out for a few days. Sun-dry it, maybe.

If you're going to attempt to keep bud for long periods of time, you might consider putting into something airtight, like a Ziploc with all the air squeezed out, and then into something dark, like a film canister, and then into the fridge. (Apparently the fridge is better than the freezer.)
posted by brina at 7:01 PM on October 6, 2011 [2 favorites]

What brina said... it's rotting.

It will dry. THC isn't water soluble so it won't get any lower quality than it is. It might taste like ass, but it ain't gonna hurt you and won't get you any less stoned.
posted by cedar at 7:31 PM on October 6, 2011

Probably don't smoke it if you're allergic to mold at all. I wouldn't for that reason.
posted by easy, lucky, free at 7:35 PM on October 6, 2011 [3 favorites]

Don't sun dry; since you stated that it isn't he highest quality, it's probably not big enough for you to hang up individual buds - spread it out on a pan or something and place it in a dark cool place (say, a large closet) and let it slowly dry out for a couple of days.
posted by porpoise at 7:40 PM on October 6, 2011 [1 favorite]

Try throwing in a small piece of a piece of bread. It'll absorb the moisture and should help. Always do that. Then reeval, then puff.
posted by femmme at 7:54 PM on October 6, 2011

i second easy, lucky, free - absolutely stay away if you have any problems with mold.
posted by nadawi at 8:16 PM on October 6, 2011

Microwave for about 45 seconds. Smoke at will.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 8:22 PM on October 6, 2011

make brownies!
posted by cvoixjames at 8:26 PM on October 6, 2011

Aieee, don't put it in with bread.

Bake it into fatty foods or hit it with isopropyl. Google it.
posted by unixrat at 8:33 PM on October 6, 2011

Oven at 150 degrees, spread on a sheet pan.

That said, please don't smoke mold!
posted by jbenben at 9:53 PM on October 6, 2011

If the oven (or waiting days) isn't an option, but it in an envelope and sit that across the top of the toaster.
posted by Trivia Newton John at 11:13 PM on October 6, 2011

Back in highschool I went to great lengths to enhance crappy weed that I learned from a 1960's weed handbook. I created a dark and dank environment in a tin to turn the crappy weed into what was called "black web-like fungus"

I had never gotten that high ever again. I'm still alive.

Next time store it in a pill bottle
posted by Bun Surnt at 11:49 PM on October 6, 2011

Great ideas in the thread already.
First off, sorry your bud wasn't cured and/or dried correctly. I can't stand providers that will do 90% of the work, only to blotch up the last 10%.

You could attempt to dry it out some more. I wouldnt microwave it, nor use an oven. What I would get is some damp rid, which absorbs water from a container. If you purchase the little tub from your hardware store, you can see the little tub hanging over the dessicant (spelling is wrong). Use a coffee filter if the buds are smaller. Keep the container closed and let the buds sit for a few days periodically checking. This is one option.

Personally, I wouldn't smoke it. Its difficult to figure out what type of fungus is growing on it. Your health is more important than any high from ganja. What I would do is freeze the buds overnight. Get a glass jar, think mason, and improvise if you don't. And put the frozen ganja in the jar. Next, cover the cannabis with 91% rubbing alcohol. For the next thirty to sixty seconds shake the jar vigorously. The last piece you will need for this project is a glass baking pan (everyone seems to have one, borrow one if you don't), making sure it isn't round but square. It will be easier.

Using a coffee filter, pour out the rubbing alcohol into the glass pan. Discard the plant material. What you have done at this point is removed the good stuff, the trichomes and left the questionable plant material. Let the rubbing alcohol evaporate in a well ventilated area. Do not apply direct heat, a fan is great for this. Using the fan spaced away from the glass pan, just so that you can visibly see the liquid gently moving. This will spear up evaporation.

What you will have left is some good "earwax hash", also known as "honey hash" or just what I call iso-hash. Using a razor blade gently scrape it up. The yellow stuff in the pan left over is the good stuff. Get it all, while avoiding it from getting on your hands, its very sticky and a pita to get off.

Enjoy!
posted by handbanana at 8:26 AM on October 7, 2011 [2 favorites]