A blunt vs joint. For greenhorn smokers, this might not be a big debate. For long time tokers, it’s a topic of contention.
New to the smoke scene and not entirely sure yet what is a joint? Always wondered how to smoke a joint properly but was too shy to ask your friends? Wondering about the difference of joint smoke between a spliff, a blunt and a regular old joint?
We get it. With so many smokers out there doing crazy things with their cannabis, it can be difficult to stray away from cartridge-based vape pens and start smoking a joint. The difference between a blunt vs a joint and even a spliff, if you’re so inclined, aren’t huge but they do make for a different smoking experience.
If you ever wondered what a joint definition is or the difference between these 3 weed-smoking styles, stay tuned because we’re going to break everything down
What is a Joint?
One of the many popular ways to consume marijuana today is in the form of a joint. Compact and easy to light up in any setting, a joint is a marijuana cigarette (without the tobacco) and is often hand-rolled by the consumer or bought pre-rolled from a dispensary.
Joints are rolled with thinner paper, which offers a large variety of different flavors and is made with several ingredients, such as hemp, flax, and/or rice. A proper joint should include a filter on the end, which can be filter paper or even a small piece of cardboard rolled in a cylinder shape to fit your joint, depending on its size.
This is a crucial element to a well-constructed joint as it will allow you to burn your joint all the way to the end without burning your fingers. Marijuana smoke also contains tar and carcinogens which the filter helps block from entering and damaging your lungs.
What is a Spliff?
A spliff at its core is considered a joint, the only difference being that it contains a combination of both cannabis and tobacco. The effects of smoking tobacco come mainly from a chemical known as nicotine, which can induce feelings of lightheadedness and cause the user to be in a more relaxed state.
Nicotine is a highly addictive chemical that is most commonly found in cigarettes and is the reason why most regular smokers have a difficult time quitting. When nicotine is inhaled, it directly affects the user’s receptors in the brain and releases a chemical known as dopamine, which is responsible for elevating your mood.
The overall effects of a spliff will vary based on the proportions of marijuana and tobacco used and the tolerance level of the user. For example, the high from a spliff could be very mild if you used a higher amount of tobacco in your mix but would elevate the energetic buzz feeling. The type of cannabis strain you use also has an impact as each strain has a different level of tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, which is responsible for the high you experience from inhaling cannabis.
What is a Blunt?
A blunt is also a marijuana cigarette but utilizes a rolling paper made of tobacco leaves. The rolling paper for blunts is bigger and thicker than the ones used for both joints and spliffs, therefore a larger quantity of cannabis is required to fill the tobacco paper. You have the freedom of purchasing the rolling paper separately and hand-rolling your blunt or by emptying the insides of a cigar and packing it with cannabis instead. It is optional to add a filter to one end of a blunt similar to a joint but it is not required as long as you roll tightly enough.
One of the nice benefits of smoking a blunt is that because the rolling paper is thicker, it burns slower and thus, lasts longer and can be shared among several people in a single session. When discussing blunts, one of the factors that draw in users, as well as push away certain users is that the tobacco leaves contain nicotine. Like a spliff, a blunt will provide a head rush and buzz almost instantly after being inhaled before the effects of the cannabis kick in.
Blunt vs Joint vs Spliff
The first difference between blunts and joints is most apparent in their appearance. Due to the nature of tobacco leaves, blunts are darker in color, thicker, and packed with more cannabis compared to joints. There are many reasons someone would opt for a blunt over a joint, a popular one being that it is easy to share with multiple people. With a thicker rolling paper, blunts burn much slower than joints and because you can pack it with more cannabis, it eliminates the inconvenience of carrying several joints for group smoke sessions.
Some users also simply enjoy the buzz that the nicotine induces from the tobacco leaves to complement their cannabis high. Blunts amplify the high because more dopamine is released when you are inhaling both nicotine and marijuana smoke, which is ideal for daily users with a higher tolerance, or for somebody who wants to intensify the high.
Joints are preferred in solo situations or between a couple of people as they are easier to get through and require less cannabis to be consumed. Many people also do not fancy the idea of consuming tobacco, whether it is a lack of interest for the head rush, the carcinogens present in the rolling paper, or both, joints are the better pick if you want to only experience a cannabis high.
Rolling papers for joints is also made using a combination of plants, which is far safer than the contents present in tobacco leaves. Compared to spliffs and blunts, joints are the healthiest and most natural method of consuming cannabis as you are only ingesting plant-based ingredients.
Spliffs are more commonly smoked when a user wants to smoke solo or with a couple of people and receive a head rush from consuming tobacco but doesn’t want to ingest a high amount of cannabis and tobacco in comparison to a blunt.
For the most part, spliffs will be the same size as joints and will induce a different high from joints because of the tobacco present. Similar to blunts, spliffs can be highly addictive because of the tobacco and they also contain several more carcinogens than joints such as nicotine, ammonia, hydrogen cyanide, etc. Due to the health effects of tobacco, many people are inclined to smoke joints over spliffs.
Final Thoughts on the difference between Blunt Vs Joint
Whether you decide to go for a pure cannabis experience in joints, a mixture of tobacco and cannabis in spliffs or a long-lasting blunt, all three methods have their pros and cons.
It is ultimately up to you, the consumer, to decide which method is most beneficial for your situation. You have the freedom to use joints for small group settings, blunts for larger gatherings and to intensify the experience, or spliffs to add an extra buzz to your high.
Which is your preferred method of smoking?
No products in the cart.