All You Need to Know About Buying and Smoking Weed in Canada

All You Need To Know About Buying and Smoking Weed in Canada. It’s been a long battle to legalize recreational marijuana in places such as Canada. After all, cannabis users are often labeled as unmotivated, lazy stoners unable to keep a job, spend money wisely, or make it in the world.

But all of that is changing, and now everyone is allowed to enjoy their favorite cannabis products without fear of getting in trouble.

Or are they?

Despite the fact that buying and smoking weed in Canada is now legal, there are still laws governing the use, distribution, possession, and growing of marijuana in every single Canadian province and territory. And these are rules and regulations everyone must know to prevent legal trouble.

If you’re new to buying and smoking weed in Canada, you might find that knowing where to start is confusing. There’s a lot more to marijuana than just picking up a joint and smoking it.

You have to know things like what marijuana is, what its benefits are, who can buy and smoke weed, and where to buy weed from. And don’t forget, you have to know the rules too.

In today’s beginner’s guide to buying and smoking weed, we’ll answer all your pressing questions. This way, when you make the move to join fellow 420 consumers and enjoy a relaxing joint, you’ll know exactly what to do.

Since this guide is so comprehensive, we have a quick list of every topic covered you can click on for quick access:

What is Marijuana?
Why Use Marijuana?
The Effects of Marijuana
The Different Forms of Marijuana
The Benefits of Smoking Weed
Who Can Smoke Weed in Canada?
Where Can I Buy Weed in Canada?
What is Marijuana?

What is Marijuana?

Marijuana (also called weed, herb, bud, ganja, Mary Jane, and the more scientific cannabis) is a mixture of the dried flowers and leaves of the cannabis plant. It contains several different compounds, all having their own effect on people when consumed.

The two main active compounds in marijuana include:

THC: this compound is the main psychoactive, or mind-altering, chemical in marijuana. It’s responsible for the high you get when you smoke weed. It is found in the resin produced by cannabis leaves and buds.
CBD: this is another compound found in the cannabis plant. It does not have psychoactive properties, meaning when you consume CBD, you will not get “high.”

There are hundreds of compounds found in marijuana that contribute to the effects felt by 420 consumers when they smoke weed. However, THC and CBD are the ones you’re most likely to hear about.

It can be confusing when people throw around terms like cannabis, marijuana, and hemp. To help you out, here’s what each of them are:

Cannabis is a plant that has two families: indica and sativa
Marijuana is the dried flowers and leaves of the cannabis plant, can be from the indica or sativa families, and is responsible for the high effect you experience when you ingest it because there is so much THC in it
Hemp is from the cannabis plant but is only from the sativa family; it is used for industrial purposes such as creating paper, clothing, oils, and food products

Indica makes people feel energetic and creative, sativa makes people feel sleepy and relaxed, and another term – hybrid – is a mixture of both indica and sativa families. Keep reading to find out more about these types.

Why Use Marijuana?

There are so many reasons why people use marijuana, it would be impossible to list them all. However, we’ll share with you the most common reasons so you can see that no two marijuana users are the same.

Enhance Creativity

It’s well-known that using marijuana enhances everyday activities, making them more exciting and fun. For example, if you’re a creative lacking inspiration, the high you get from marijuana may be enough to give you a fresh new perspective and ignite your creative juices. It can also help magnify your hearing. Listening to music while high allows you to find deeper connections, a more spiritual outlook, and the creativity needed to finish your art, whatever that may be.

Marijuana as Medicine

When you’re really sick, especially with a chronic disease, its likely you’ll try almost anything to improve your quality of life. No one wants to live life with pain or mental anguish. And it just so happens that for many people that are ill, marijuana helps.

Marijuana has been used medicinally for thousands of years:

Chinese Emperor Shen Nung (2700 BC) claimed marijuana had healing properties
Egyptians are thought to have used cannabis for glaucoma, inflammation, and enemas (1213 BC)
India is credited with ingesting a drink of cannabis and milk as an anesthetic (1000 BC)
Ancient Greece used cannabis in 200 BC for earaches, edema, and inflammation
Hemp was a staple for all herbalists during the Middle Ages (1538 AD)
Jamestown settlers brought the marijuana plant to North America in 1611 and even penalized those not producing it
Oxford scholar Robert Burton suggested marijuana to treat depression (1621 AD)
And the list goes on

People use marijuana and its medicinal compounds (called cannabinoids) to heal the mind and the body. The two most common compounds, THC and CBD, have been known to help with things like stress, migraines, nausea, PTSD, muscle spasms, ADD/ADHD, and chronic pain.

Help with Addiction

Using marijuana in place of a serious addiction can help give people their lives back. Don’t believe us?

Take a look:

Alcohol

Rather than consume tons of empty calories and endure a splitting hangover the next day, those who enjoy alcohol have been turning to marijuana instead. It’s easier on the liver (69% of people believe alcohol is more harmful to a person’s health) and still calls for a great time.

Opiates

People with chronic pain or are going through chemotherapy stand to benefit from using marijuana. Used as an alternative to highly addictive opiates, cannabis treatments alleviate pain and don’t come with the dangerous side effects opiates do. In fact, 93% of people surveyed claim they prefer cannabis over opioid-based pain medication.

Tobacco

You might think that smoking tobacco and marijuana are the same thing. But they’re not. Smoking marijuana is reportedly healthier than smoking tobacco, and doesn’t come with the same addictive nature.

Sleeping Pills

For people looking to reduce anxiety and insomnia, marijuana can have dramatic results. Marijuana helps with relaxation of the body and mind and doesn’t become addictive like some well-known sleeping pills.

The Effects of Marijuana

The way you feel while smoking weed will depend on the type of marijuana you’re consuming, your desired effect, and the quality of your product.

When you smoke marijuana, the THC in the cannabis plant goes from your lungs to your bloodstream, transferring the chemicals in the weed to all parts of your body including the brain. If you eat or drink something with weed in it, the body absorbs the chemicals slowly. In fact, the effect of the marijuana you eat or drink will take between 30 minutes and 1 hour.

Here are some common effects you’ll feel whether you smoke, eat or drink marijuana:

Altered sense of time Impaired memory
Hallucinations (if a high dose)
Altered senses such as seeing brighter colors
Changes in mood
Impaired body movement
Difficulty thinking clearly

For the most part, adults consuming marijuana will not experience any lethal side effects or long term health problems. That said, marijuana can have a wide range of physical and mental effects on the health of children smoking weed. For more information about this, check out our article on the effects of marijuana and find out why Canada is so adamant about keeping weed out of the hands of the youth.

The Different Forms of Marijuana

Marijuana comes in many forms and offer users several different effects.

As a beginner, it’s good to familiarize yourself with each so you can buy the type that works best for your needs:

Sativa: increases energy, improves focus and concentration, boosts your mood, and stimulates the mind and senses
Indica: reduces anxiety, relaxes the mind and body, relieves pain and nausea, and stimulates your appetite
CBD: offers longer lasting relief of pain, has no “high” feeling”, and reduces inflammation
Hybrid: is a balanced mix of sativa and indica for a feeling of euphoria and relaxation; can be either sativa or indica dominant

In addition, there are many ways to consume cannabis beyond just smoking it. In fact, there are three main ways to consume your favorite cannabis products: inhale, eat/drink, or apply.

Inhalation

There are plenty of different ways to smoke weed. Each way provides a different experience…so try them all and see which one you like best!

Hand Pipes: these are convenient and easy ways for even novice weed smokers to use. They require marijuana flower and a lighter. They’re ideal for traveling or discreet use.
Water Pipes and Bongs: these vary in size and type and use water to cool down the smoke before you inhale.
Joints and Blunts: joints and blunts are similar to cigarettes and cigars. They require marijuana flower and rolling papers.
Hookahs: this is one of the least popular ways to smoke marijuana, though it does provide a way for multiple people to smoke at once, which is helpful in social settings.
Vapes: this is another easy way to inhale your marijuana and get a good high. The great thing about vaporizers is that they decrease the amount of harmful chemicals you ingest while smoking weed. It also reduces the odor, which some people prefer.
Concentrates: though concentrates can be infused in food and drink, the most common way to consume it is by smoking it. It is a highly potent form of marijuana.

Check out our huge directory listing of Mail Order Marijuana (MOM) Dispensaries that have all the devices you need for smoking weed the old fashioned way – by inhaling it.

Edibles

Cannabis edibles are food and beverages that are infused with marijuana. They are a delicious treat and are easy to dose out yourself based on the effect you want to experience in the moment. Edibles also offer a lasting effect since it takes longer for the THC to release into your bloodstream when you eat or drink it.

The one downside to consuming marijuana as an edible, as opposed to smoking it, is twofold:

It takes longer for the desired effect to set in fully, which can be frustrating
The duration of your high can as along as 6 hours, which is a long time for some people

It’s also important to note that beginner marijuana users should take it easy when consuming edibles. The effect can be extremely strong and overdosing on an edible can lead you to become too high, which doesn’t always feel good.

So, find out how your body reacts to a small amount before diving in and eating the entire candy bar ok?

You can also ingest marijuana orally by consuming:

Tinctures, which are the liquid form of cannabis that reduce the harmful effects of smoking weed and offer fast effects and complete dosage control
Oils, which are considered the midpoint between edibles and concentrates since they are swallowed like an edible but have the consistency of an oil, which is much like a concentrate

For your favorite edible products, check out which products our vetted and approved MOMs have in store for you.

Topical Application

One of the most popular things to do these days, especially when it comes to using CBD as a form of pain relief or relaxation, is to apply marijuana topically.

Here are the most common forms of topical marijuana:

Lotions
Lip balms
Creams
Oils
Bath bombs
Salves
And much more

They are intended to provide long-lasting relief and are perfect for those that don’t want the psychoactive effects marijuana with THC gives its users.

We’ve rounded up the very best MOMs in Canada that have all the topical marijuana products you could possibl need.

All you have to do is check out our Topicals page, find the product you want, and buy from the dispensary that has that product. It’s that easy!

The Benefits of Smoking Weed

Not sure smoking weed is for you?

If you’re wondering whether buying and smoking weed is a good idea, check out this impressive list of benefits:

Regulate insulin production and manage calories = stay slimmer!
Fight cancerous cell growth
Treat your depression and live a happier life
Heal broken bones, sprained ankles, and sore muscles with CBD
Slow the development of Alzheimer’s Disease
Treat nausea, headaches, and even some skin conditions
Generate money by investing in marijuana stock
Help create jobs and make money for your community
Keep your pets healthy
Help yourself sleep OR stay awake!
Boost creativity, productivity, and your overall mood

Of course, these are blanket, generic statements and we’re not claiming them to be 100% true and backed by research.

It’s up to you to figure out which claims you believe, which ones are stretching the truth, and which ones will actually benefit you individually. We’re just trying to show you that marijuana does a whole lot more than make you laugh and eat a lot!

Who Can Smoke Weed In Canada?

Remember when we mentioned that each Canadian province and territory has its own laws when it comes to using marijuana?

Well, we aren’t kidding.

It’s important you understand the rules for the area you live in so you don’t get in trouble. For your reference, we have articles for each province and territory you can read:

Alberta
British Columbia
Manitoba
New Brunswick
Newfoundland and Labrador
Nova Scotia
Ontario
Prince Edward Island
Quebec
Saskatchewan
Nunavut
Yukon
Northwest Territories

That said, here are the basic rules and regulations regarding who can (and can’t) use marijuana in Canada:

You must be at least 19 years old (unless you’re in Alberta or Quebec, then you only have to be 18) to buy, possess, and/or consume recreational marijuana
You can possess or share up to 30 grams of dried cannabis or its equivalent (1 gram of dried cannabis = 5 grams of fresh cannabis, 15 grams of edible product, 70 grams of liquid product, 0.25 grams of concentrates (solid or liquid), or 1 cannabis plant seed)
Up to four marijuana plants can be grown in your personal residence so long as it’s for personal use and not for sale
You cannot take cannabis across the border
In some places, like Ontario, you can smoke in designated smoking areas and some public places like parks and sidewalks
You cannot give or sell cannabis to youth or use youth to commit a cannabis-related offense

Again each province and territory has their own set of rules and regulations. And since the cannabis industry is still so new, the laws are always changing so you have to be careful.

Where Can I Buy Weed in Canada?

Knowing that weed is legal in Canada is one thing; knowing where to buy it is another.

Since the cannabis industry is in its infancy, there is a lot of confusion about where to buy legal weed from. As a beginner weed smoker, it’s good to know what you’re doing before you buy to make sure it’s legit.

Right now, private sector weed retailers are not technically allowed to sell weed to the public. That said, you’re bound to find a lot of them popping up anyways, especially if you live in a populous area. The Canadian government does what it can to shut them down, but honestly, it’s overwhelming and not always a priority.

If you want to make sure the weed you buy is legal, and enjoy the convenience of having your favorite cannabis products delivered straight to your front door, try buying your weed online in Canada instead.

Wrapping Up

As you can see, there’s a lot to buying and smoking weed in Canada. And while it’s not hard to do, it’s good to know what you’re getting into if you’re a beginner.

So, take a look at our MOM directory, find something you think you’d like to smoke, and buy up. Before you know it, you’ll be lighting up your first joint, realizing that weed has a little something for everyone, and feeling like it’s about time Canada made weed legal.It’s been a long battle to legalize recreational marijuana in Canada. Weed has a little something for everyone and it’s great Canada made weed legal.