Weed vs. Wax

Once you have started smoking for a while, your tolerance for regular old marijuana starts to rise. Then you come across the wonders of concentrated cannabis, or wax dabs, that seems to bring you to a whole other stoner level you didn't even think was imaginable. Over the last few years, I have learned to see the differences in how wax smokes, makes you feel, and the different high it gives you than smoking on kush.

Form and Price

Weed: while marijuana comes in many different varieties and color tones depending on the quality, it all generally holds the same form of the flowery bud it comes in. It can be grown either indoor or outdoor. Prices can range anywhere from $5 a gram for some not so good outdoor grown, up to $20 a gram for high end top shelf stuff. Edible candies, foods, and drinks are more associated with kush also, which come in milligrams of THC, and range in price from $5 to $50

Wax: Wax comes in many different forms and packaging. Concentrated cannabis used for dabbing can be bought in generally three forms; including but not limited to shatter (thin, hard sheets), butter (softer, not as sticky and stable), sugar, oil, hash, and rosin (almost like a liquid). They are normally bought in half or full grams ranging from $10 a half gram to $40 a half gram. Wax and oil also come in cartridges to be smoked on like a vape, and cost between $20 a half gram to $60 a half gram.

What to Smoke With

Weed: Regular bud can be smoked out of many many things, and the tools you need are generally minimal. One can use a pipe, a water bong, joint papers, blunt wraps, or even a dab rig with a regular bowl piece put into it. Other than the actual device you are smoking out of, you really only need your lighter and your kush.

Wax: The downfall to wax is that dabbing is a little more inconvenient and takes a couple more steps. While you can put a "nail" (part the dab is actually placed in) in a regular bong, many people get smaller versions of water bongs called dab rigs. You also need a torch to heat up the nail, because a lighter will not get it hot enough to melt the wax and create smoke. A "tool" is also needed to scrape the wax into a smaller portion, often a skinny metal or glass piece, as well as a "cap" to place over the nail to hold as much heat in and burn as much of the wax as possible. You're also going to need some butane for when your torch runs out.

Taste and Smell:

Weed: We all know how strongly weed smells even when it's in a container. Typically, the better the weed, the better the smell and even taste when you actually take the bong rip. In saying this, a lot of times straight weed can give a smokey, ashy after taste.

Wax: On the other hand, wax (especially shatter) barely smells at all. I can totally have it just in my bag in the container it comes in or even have it out on the table and be totally fine. The smell and taste to wax is very hard to describe, but it's like all the good parts of a weed smell/taste intensified. Opposite of weed, you often won't be able to sense really good wax unless you are directly smelling it.

The High:

Weed: Both flower and wax come in sativa, indica, or hybrid strains. In general, straight marijuana is more sedative overall, despite which strain you get. People also often report getting more consistent body highs from smoking on kush than wax. Tolerance for weed is generally higher, because it is less concentrated.

Wax: Dabs tend to give stronger head highs and more dominant sativa highs than bud does. Due to its concentration, tolerance starts out incredibly low and is built up over time. This creates a much more extreme high that kicks in faster and lasts much longer than a kush high does. Wax tends to last longer, because of the fact you need to use less of it.

Conclusion

While there are many differences between marijuana flower and marijuana wax, which is more convenient and beneficial is completely up to the smokers themselves and is entirely dependent on personal opinion. In my personal opinion, I prefer taking dabs and think the extra cost is worth it, but I always have some bud on me because there is nothing like a dank bong rip.