Cannabis consumption cost comparison

January 5, 2023 2:18 PM

Roommate takes in significant quantities of cannabis for medical purposes. Typically they use a bong. Side effects of this include the stink on their person and in the air, occasional resin deposits on the floor and sink, and needing to smoke outside in the dark/cold. Is there a less disruptive way to consume medically necessary cannabis that doesn't cost much more than smoking flower, per dose? We don't have much money. This is in Canada. Thanks for your thoughts.
posted by seanmpuckett to Health & Fitness (13 answers total)

I don't know what prices are like in Canada, but it's likely that both edibles and weed vapes (cartridges for a vape pen) would be at least equally cost-effective and much less stinky and messy.
posted by derrinyet at 2:30 PM on January 5, 2023 [2 favorites]

I find that vaping weed using a dry herb vaporizer is less stinky and messy than smoking (although there is still some smell). I need to use slightly more weed than smoking to get the same effects, but it's cheaper per-dose than concentrate vapes and much cheaper than edibles.

However, of course, there's the upfront cost of the vape to consider, which I realize might not be affordable for your roommate. If you know anyone with a dry herb vape who might be willing to lend it for a few days, that would allow your roommate to try out whether vaping works for them. I have the previous generation of this vape which is decent quality and among the cheaper ones I've seen.
posted by mekily at 2:32 PM on January 5, 2023 [4 favorites]

Check your memail, I may have an idea that would involve no money but may involve a bit of time.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 3:15 PM on January 5, 2023

If your roommate requires a high dosage as you've said, I can recommend Redecan's 30:0 oil for sublingual application. Honestly, any of the current oral applicators will do for high dosages. The RSO pen from Ellevia is a fave of mine. I would posit your question over at r/TheOCS to find out about what might work instead of flower.

FYI: the current dosage cap for edibles on the legal market is 10 mg, so it would not be the cheaper option for your roommate. You can get around our legal edible dosage regulations with these mints/lozenges that are 10 mg each but come as 10 caps (100 mg total).
posted by Kitteh at 4:40 PM on January 5, 2023

I see you are in Toronto, so if your roomie doesn't mind the gray area, he can find some much higher edible choices at CAFE, too. I try to use flower only on weekends and edibles during the week myself and I have a pretty decent tolerance!
posted by Kitteh at 4:42 PM on January 5, 2023

Love my Arizer Argo vape. Not nearly as stinky as a bong, and for them it is the easiest vape I have ever owned when it comes to cleaning it and keeping it clean. I live in a state where it is legal to grow so I only use flower as it is cheapest for me.
posted by terrapin at 4:49 PM on January 5, 2023 [1 favorite]

I've memailed you a little more info; but I've got evidence that using this thing WITH a bong is very effective.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:21 PM on January 5, 2023

Yes -- a dry herb vape (the Dynavap is one) is probably the most efficient way to consume flower. I'd imagine it's even better through a bong. You should need a whole lot less flower to achieve roughly the same results.

That said, I've never used a Dynavap, but I hear there's a learning curve, and they're really not much cheaper than some of the small battery-powered vapes like the Planet of the Vapes One (which I own and use). The POTV One has a chamber that holds about a tenth of a gram (a literal pinch if your bud is fluffy) and it's way more than enough for me (I am an extreme lightweight, but the efficiency of a dry herb vape means you're getting almost all of the THC in the flower instead of losing it to combustion).

And yes, the smell is greatly diminished. I can vape in the living room with the windows shut and my wife will come into the room 10 minutes later and not know I've been vaping (until she catches me laughing at the commercials).
posted by uncleozzy at 4:58 AM on January 6, 2023 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Thanks for all this info, friends. I will pass it all along.

K (the roomie) has a dry herb pencil of some sort and I don't know why they don't use it. I think they may have said once that loading it is a commitment to use it all rather than being able to tweak dosage as they go, but that may be faulty memory.

Neither me nor my partner partake, and I wish K had a "kush companion" or "bong buddy" or someone like that that could help them learn how to imbibe, but with the pandemic (gestures broadly) they're pretty much on their own. And, tbh, often very challenged with lack of spoons, so relying on the muscle memory of the bong rather than having to learn something new and try to tweak it while just wanting some damn relief.

We're downtown in the Village, and I'll suggest they head to a CAFE location to see if some of the higher octane edible/tincture solutions might suit, at least as a possible dark/cold/wet weather alternative rather than a full time replacement.

Two huge fingers to the Ontario government for ... everything unspoken.
posted by seanmpuckett at 6:18 AM on January 6, 2023 [2 favorites]

I couldn't easily navigate my way to see the full menu at the CAFE linked above, but it appears they have RSO/FECO for sale. I'm one of those people for whom edibles don't work particularly well so I haven't tried it myself, but I lurk on a local medical cannabis chatboard and have seen many folks picking up 1g syringes of those and making their own edibles at home with silicone molds as a way to both get more potent edibles and save cash (1g = 100 10mg edibles). If your roommate is willing to give that a shot it *might* make a decent alternative.
posted by Ufez Jones at 6:31 AM on January 6, 2023 [2 favorites]

An oil (cartridge) based vape would not require learning to load or anything, just hold the button down and take as big of a hit as you like. It's virtually odorless and produces no waste except the cartridge itself, which lasts weeks at a minimum.
posted by derrinyet at 7:11 AM on January 6, 2023 [1 favorite]

I burned myself so badly on a dynavap, and had to buy a butane lighter to use it. Can't recommend non-electronic vapes.
posted by terrapin at 8:53 AM on January 6, 2023

I don't know the Canadian market but tinctures are definitely where I'd start looking for a combination of budget, controlling doses, and not being smokey etc.
posted by Candleman at 11:38 AM on January 6, 2023