Dear Stoner: I’ve had a vaporizer for almost a year now and have a buttload of golden-brown vaped weed saved up. Is there anything I can do with it, or have I been wasting my energy?
Nicholas
Dear Nicholas: If your vaporizer isn’t turning your flower black, it might eventually pay for itself. Although it looks dead and useless, vaped cannabis still has a low percentage of THC and some cannabinoids left over. Besides giving it to your scavenger friends who never have money to pitch in, you can use your vaped pot to make hash or edibles if you’re not burning it too hot.
Brown pot butter isn’t as visually appealing as the green stuff, but it’ll definitely get the job done. If your vaped product is golden or brown, it’s about a quarter as strong as it originally was. Save up at least an ounce to infuse with a half-pound of butter or one cup of olive oil, and you’ll be surprised at how potent it is. Extracting THC with 99 percent isopropyl alcohol for some qwiso (quick-wash isopropyl) hash is also an option, but it requires patience and research, and is not for beginners. It also requires a ton of vaped weed to make it worthwhile, so start studying and saving up now if you’re interested.
Dear Stoner: I buy cartridges for my hash pen for the convenience and steady high it gives me, but the damn things keep leaking in my pocket. Are the products just made poorly, or am I doing something wrong?
Mrs. Puff
Dear Mrs. Puff: It could be both, but there are steps you can take to keep a cartridge from leaking. Don’t leave it in your car, especially during summer: The heat will thin the liquid and the cartridge will leak. Take a cartridge out when you’re not using it; they’ve been known to leak if screwed in 24/7. Make sure you have the right battery: Some e-cig batteries burn too hot or permanently pierce the cartridges. And finally, stop turning them upside down: That silicone stopper is made to stop leaking, but if condoms aren’t fail-safe, then nothing is.
Got a question for our stoner? Hit us up at marijuana@westword.com or leave a message on the potline at 303-293-2222.
This article appears in Sep 22-28, 2016.