Replacing alcohol with marijuana

January 31, 2016 11:10 PM

I've been replacing my nightly 2 glasses of wine/bottles of beer with weed, but I'm not sure if I am doing it right.

I have 2 glasses of wine or 2 beers nightly to unwind. While they help me relax, they don't always agree with my stomach and wine sometimes gives me a headache. Plus it is pretty expensive to buy this much alcohol.
Marijuana is totally legalized in my jurisdiction. While I smoked in high school and college, I haven't really as an adult. But I went into a shop (They're really nice and helpful. It was so pleasant to buy weed this way and no stems!) and bought some. Weed is cheap! I bought a nice organic pure bag for $12 and it has lasted me for 2 months smoking 3 times a week. This seems like a far cheaper and perhaps healthier way to use something to relax.
But here's my problem - whereas I know exactly where my limits are with drinking and can function fairly normally (household stuff, cook, interact with others, be around my kids), I don't know how to smoke weed, get that relaxed feeling, while still functioning. For the record, I do not smoke weed when my kids are awake. When I smoke weed, I don't trust myself to reply to emails because what if I'm acting goofy and accidentally reply to my boss. I don't feel like folding laundry or doing the dishes. I end up watching TV - which is something I rarely do normally. So this makes me feel like I cannot fully replace alcohol with weed because I do need to accomplish household tasks in the evening.

Maybe I am smoking too much when I do smoke. Or maybe the solution is to only smoke weed as a once a week treat when I don't need to do household stuff and keep drinking the other nights. Or it is possible that there are different strands that won't make me feel as lazy - and I can ask the nice helpful shop people next time I go in. But I'd love to hear from others how one smokes weed as an adult.

posted by anonymous to Health & Fitness (15 answers total)

One consideration: is there another adult in the house while you smoke? If you don't trust yourself to reply to email while smoking, it might be wise to abstain whenever you're home alone with your kids (awake or not) in case of emergency.

Otherwise, this sounds pretty normal, if you enjoy just chilling out and de-stressing in the evenings.
posted by third word on a random page at 11:57 PM on January 31, 2016 [1 favorite]

Some people can do stuff like cleaning the house while stoned. Some can't. You and I are in the latter camp, it seems.

Different strains can affect people differently so yes, ask. Perhaps for you pot is an 'everything's done, time to be a couch slug' thing. That can be rewarding in and of itself.
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 11:57 PM on January 31, 2016 [2 favorites]

Yes a different strain may help quite a bit -- you can just say you want something to relax/wind down in the evening but without "couch lock". Maybe an indica because bedtime, but some are more vegetative than others.

I personally can do household tasks while a bit stoned (and it would make it more fun / less annoying!) but probably not emails. Good for listening to music, internet browsing, feeling all cozy in bed -- I actually rarely watch tv after smoking.

Also after a while you will start to learn your limits with weed a little bit better too.
posted by internet of pillows at 12:18 AM on February 1, 2016

Different strains will definitely have different effects. As will trying different smoking devices and learning how to gauge the size of a hit - what're you smoking it with? (I miss my nice big bong.)

A lot of being able to do stuff comes from what you bring to it. I mostly stick to indica strains, as sativas tend to make me stress out. Indicas are famous for the "couch lock" phenomenon but it's not uncommon for me to spend half my day lightly stoned on it and working away on a drawing.
posted by egypturnash at 3:29 AM on February 1, 2016

You took two months to smoke a gram? You're barely smoking any quantity at all if so. Is that one hit per evening?

At that rate, I'd suggest buying a number of different strains and alternating.
posted by spitbull at 3:58 AM on February 1, 2016 [2 favorites]

You might try consuming in other ways than smoking - I've heard vaping can give a lighter or different kind of effect.
posted by Gordafarin at 4:18 AM on February 1, 2016 [3 favorites]

So, my tolerance is real low and I don't mind keeping it that way. I use a vape, which gives me much greater control on how much I ingest. It also makes my product last longer. You might try a handheld vape such as the Magic Flight Launch Box, Arizer Solo, or Pax Ploom. Doing it this way lets me intake juuuuuust enough to relax, but not to get balls-to-the-wall stoned. I mean, you can totally get amazingly high with a vape, I just choose to use them because of the ability to get high in very small increments, rather than the inexactness of a fat hit off a pipe. Read the directions, maybe watch a few YouTube videos, and start with very small hits off your vaporizer until you get familiar with its effects.
posted by rachaelfaith at 5:20 AM on February 1, 2016

Not sure why no one has directly laid this out but happy to - you are most likely smoking an Indica strain when what you need is a Sativa strain (these are the two categories under which strains can fall, not including the "hybrid" strains which are what they sound like.) ANY sativa strain should solve this. Trust me. Also - ask your bud tender this question too. This is what they're there for. Say exactly what you've said here. You want to feel like doing housework after smoking? They will have the strain for you.

Also - 2 months to smoke a gram translates to about a joint and a half per month. This is an insanely small amount. When you switch to sativa you may need to smoke more of it than that one hit you must be taking per session. I think it is entirely possible to make the switch more often if you try this.
posted by jitterbug perfume at 5:46 AM on February 1, 2016 [2 favorites]

You're not going to know your limits of functioning while high until you just experiment with it. I know I can only have one hit if I'm going to fold laundry, and it will go slower, but the fabric feels cool so it's not terribly burdensome.

Similarly, if I want to read before bed, I'll need to stop short of getting so high that I can't even focus on the words, whereas if I was just going to watch TV, I could smoke more. Cooking while high is also something to start simple; instant oatmeal first and slowly move up in complexity. One time I melted a quarter cup of butter in a skillet to cook a grilled cheese, and ended up frying it, because cockiness.

I guess it's a learned state kind of thing; you know how to do these tasks sober, you've already learned how to do them with a buzz from alcohol, and now you need to re-learn them with the effects of weed, which may be annoying, but like anything will get easier with experience. And your liver thanks you! And your lungs will thank you if you vape/volcano/just keep your glass pipe clean.
posted by Drosera at 5:54 AM on February 1, 2016 [1 favorite]

try different varieties. indica will make you "sleepy" whereas sativa will make you "creative."
posted by Jason and Laszlo at 6:11 AM on February 1, 2016

Definitely experiment. I am one of those people who is put on their ass by sativas (couch locked, paranoid, hating life) and highly functional on indicas (conversation, accomplishing tasks, reading if I moderate intake appropriately). Many hybrids trend towards sativa reaction for me.
I use in similar quantities to you. The problem with being a one-hit-wonder is that the volume difference between nicely buzzed and totally non-functional is insanely small.
So, what I do is buy the indica strain with the lowest levels of active compounds. This gives me more room for error.

So, experiment. Try sativas, indicas and hybrids. Find the one that gets you in the right headspace.
For the time being, aim for the low levels of THC.
Also, do some prep work before you smoke so whatever task you want to accomplish is actually begun and you don't have to think through the whole process in the altered state.
posted by Seamus at 7:02 AM on February 1, 2016

The best part about weed being so cheap, is that you can spend relatively little money on several different varieties and pitch the ones you don't like. It's harder to do that with beer and wine. You should try 2-4 different strains based on their suggestions (or your own research) and then start from there. Just like beer, wine, coffee, chocolate, cheese, anything specialty, it is much easier to go into a shop and say "I liked X because of Y and Z, how do your offerings now compare to X?" than it is to go into a shop blind and just kinda ask. Giving your purveyor a starting point can drastically increase their ability to help you out and get you to where you want to be.

As for going into a shop with some more information at your disposal Leafly is a fairly good review site that also allows you to find certain strains in shops near you, and what you can sort of expect from each strain. YMMV with each strain, but it gives you a good starting point. And if the shop you frequent is out of your new favorite (whatever that ends up being) that site can usually help you find something similar, or the same product at a different shop.

Looking at the sativa/indica difference is important, as others have mentioned, but you should also be able (or it may be legally required to be posted) to get the THC and CBD levels of whatever you're buying. Those percentages can really alter your experience, but they aren't everything. Sometimes the interplay between the two percentages can make a huge difference. Keep an eye on how these percentages change too! This is an agricultural product, and can deviate by grower as much as they can by variety. General advice; I would look for low THC, high CBD sativa strains.

And, FWIW, I've found a particular medical-oriented high CBD sativa strain that I absolutely love, and I'm able to routinely head into the garage and hop on the stationary bike for a solid hour or more; it is very focusing, doesn't produce a serious 'high' and doesn't 'couch-lock' me. While I still wouldn't go driving or anything, I usually don't feel super inebriated and can still handle higher-level functioning just fine (stuff like tame excel spreadsheet work). I think its nice.
posted by furnace.heart at 7:52 AM on February 1, 2016 [1 favorite]

whereas I know exactly where my limits are with drinking

Keep in mind that there are zero institutional controls over weed at this point. A wine label will say "12% ABV" and you know that's true because there's an entire federal governmental agency devoted to enforcing the rules and pre-approving labels. Not so with marijuana. Sure, there are many, many respected, reputable purveyors, and the good stores are very helpful. But when something says "X% THC," you're taking their word for it. You'll need to perform a lot of trial and error.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 8:39 AM on February 1, 2016 [1 favorite]

My favorite dispensary in Denver sells "flights".
This made me so damn happy.
You get a bulk deal, basically, on five different strains.

Also, Cool Papa Bell is right, there are no institutional controls.
% THC is something that can't be totally believed, as no once is testing every batch.

You also mentioned it being "organic". There is no organic standard for weed.
The city of Denver recalled a huge amount of pot because they found it tainted with pesticides.
The city asked the EPA to give them some guidance on what pesticides would be okay to use and the EPA couldn't give them an answer because . . .federal law. Growers had been using pesticides you would use on comestibles rather than ones you would use on smokables (tomatoes rather than tobacco).
Until there are legal standards and organizations established, a lot of what you see on labels needs to be taken with a grain of salt. Colorado has an organic certification organization that was supposed to be start certifying this past fall.
posted by Seamus at 9:00 AM on February 1, 2016

But when something says "X% THC," you're taking their word for it.
% THC is something that can't be totally believed, as no once is testing every batch.

Not sure about Washington, Alaska or Colorado, but in Oregon this is required by law, and each batch is sent out to specific authorized labs to produce the percentages written on the labels. They're not legally allowed to make up the percentage (applicable law is on pg 12, section 333-008-1190). You're right, there is no Federal body doing this, it's being done on the state level, and each state is doing it differently.
posted by furnace.heart at 9:12 AM on February 1, 2016 [3 favorites]