If you use cannabis, you know that sometimes you can get a “bad batch.” It’s something that happens when the plants aren’t cared for properly; for example, if they haven’t received the proper amount of lighting or hydration. Plants that are not properly stored can also lose their freshness and effectiveness. If you are worried about less-than-quality cannabis, you might wonder how you can keep an eye out for possible issues. Here are five things you can look for to tell if your cannabis is of good quality before you use it.
You’ve bought it from a dispensary.
If you’ve purchased your cannabis or CBD oil from a dispensary, you can trust that it is of the highest quality; however, within that system itself, there are a variety of levels of cannabis. The cheaper the cannabis is, the less likely it is a high-quality product. In the industry, this is referred to as a “top shelf” product: the higher the price, the better the product. And that’s just good business. If you want a premium product, you are going to have to shell out the cash to get it.
Buying from a dispensary also means that you can trust the source of the cannabis and oil products. When you buy products “off the street” you run the risk of getting product that is cut with filler, or worse, something that could hurt you.
You see a lot of stems and seeds.
If you have purchased cannabis and find it to be full of stems and seeds, this isn’t a good thing. Usually, the higher quality cannabis products will have been cleaned of such debris. If you are paying for your cannabis by the gram, this debris is going to take away from the actual product you are paying for and it means you are basically getting the garbage associated with harvesting cannabis. If you thumb through it and find it’s not cleaned well, it’s probably not high quality cannabis.
You don’t smell anything.
There’s no mistaking the aroma that cannabis gives off; even oil products can have that distinct smell that is associated with cannabis and cannabis products. If you find that your cannabis is absent of that aroma, or any aroma at all, it’s probably old, or not fully matured. Plants that are harvested too soon not only look different, but they smell differently. They lack that classic pungent smell that we’ve come to know and look for in quality cannabis.
Of course, if you are purchasing your cannabis from a dispensary, you’ll find that you don’t always have a chance to inquire as to the aroma of the product because of packaging; it’s safe to say though, that your cannabis is fresh if you bought it from a licensed dispensary.
The color is wrong.
If you use cannabis on a regular basis, you have come to know the traditional color of the matured product. When plants are harvested too soon, they’ll be brighter in color, whiter, and lack the classic “fuzz” look of a mature plant. Mature plants often turn auburn or brown in color and can look dirty to the eye. Don’t assume that a darker plant has gone bad: it’s probably ripe for the picking. If your buds are dull and don’t seem to have good color – and if they don’t smell right – they are probably too young to be harvested or they’ve passed their prime harvesting window.
The strain matters.
The kind of cannabis you buy will greatly impact the quality of it, although, you might not notice if you are a first-time user. Some strains are weaker than others. If you want a really high quality cannabis product, look for stems that are larger and thicker before they are harvested. This is usually only the case if you are growing your own cannabis at home because it’s not often that you’ll see your dispensary supplier’s plants or the plants of the person you bought cannabis from on the street. It’s a good way to tell for yourself if your plants are going to be of a certain caliber at home.
Regardless of whether you buy your cannabis at a dispensary or from a long-time supplier you trust, you can’t always guarantee the quality of your cannabis. Shelf life is a new problem that dispensaries are having to deal with, and the amount of packaging that you’ll have to get through once you’ve purchased it from a licensed dispensary means that you often don’t get to see your cannabis until you are home getting ready to use it. It won’t take you long to realize what quality cannabis looks like, smells like, and tastes like; although, you won’t really know if your cannabis is of a higher quality until you try it. At that point, your money is already spent, and you are waiting for the effects to kick in.