Opening a newly purchased cannabis product and inhaling the scent of cannabis is a moment most cannabis users look forward to. Whether it’s woodsy, skunky, citrusy, sweet, or sour the smell of cannabis is as distinct as the scent of roses or lavender. However, smelling like “weed” is not always equal to smelling like cannabis. The “weed” smell we associate with cannabis consumers is influenced by many factors including, storage, dosing environment, and preferred dosing mechanism. We’ll go over a few pitfalls and simple ways to keep the smell in the bag.
- Improper storage
Cannabis plants have terpenes that cause the scents weed gives off. The different strains of cannabis give off a potent scent that can cling onto clothes, car interiors, carpets, you name it. Weed users may want to cover up the pungent smells of their session if they have company drop by unexpectedly -- or if they have parents, neighbors, or landlords who don’t approve of their recreational marijuana use.
The goal is to store your cannabis products in a way that conserves medicinal properties and quality. If this is done properly, then the smell won’t be an issue.
Fix: Keep cannabis products in airtight sealed containers so that smells don't linger. Things like vacuum sealed bags, resealable bags, mason jars, or plastic containers are good for storing cannabis products and keeping the odors from escaping.
- Pungent delivery methods
Smokers may be smelling the residue from burning cannabis in paper, tobacco, etc.
Cannabis scents don’t cling to walls or the air like tobacco scent does because cannabis molecules aren’t soluble in water vapor. However, cannabis odor lingers on people’s skin and clothes because the molecules dissolve in oils. The smell of tobacco products like Swisher Sweets, tend to linger and are synonymous with blunt smokers.
Fix: Smoke outdoors where legal. Clean your smoking devices (pipes, bongs, one hitters). Use personal air filters, aka. sploofs.
- Keeping your cannabis use a secret.
If we are consuming consciously, making it look nice, while being active and productive, we shouldn’t feel any kind of way about our cannabis use. The negative comments related to cannabis users still lead some of us to keep the magic to ourselves. While we may not want to smell like we just came out of a hot box, hiding our cannabis use doesn’t help to fight cannabis stigma. In addition, it prevents you from using your community to ask personal questions like, “Do I smell like weed girl?”. Stigma can be reduced just by being more open with our cannabis use.
Fix: Find a friend whom you can ask that most personal question, “Hey, do I smell like I’ve been smoking?” Identifying a trusted individual to check in with can make everything more pleasant. If your buddy gives you that look, go wash your hands, get some fresh air, and drink some water. Or you could embrace the floral side of cannabis and make it your signature scent with cannabis-specific perfumes.
