Does THC increase or decrease consciousness?

[Clarence]

2 hours ago, Leo Gura said:

Proper inhale is crucial.

For a first experience with THCA, would you advise a full inhale, or a shorter one first to get a feel for it?

How was your very first experience with it?

[Leo Gura]

13 minutes ago, Clarence said:

For a first experience with THCA, would you advise a full inhale, or a shorter one first to get a feel for it?

How was your very first experience with it?

Err on the side of moderation.

My first experience was almost too much.

[Schizophonia]

It turns me into the tiger on the pack of Cheetos so probably lower

[Yimpa]

1 hour ago, Clarence said:

How was your very first experience with it?

1 hour ago, Leo Gura said:

My first experience was almost too much.

Ah yes, 2 deep inhales of a blunt was my introduction to the psychedelic experience. I was completely floored and blown away. It was like God knocked me out. All of physicality flew out the window. But instead of being left unconscious, I was awoken; left utterly conscious and speechless for what seemed like an eternity. 

This was back in 2018. You cannot meditate your way to this experience, indeed. It was an insane degree of consciousness. Do I regret it? Nope. It gave me a proper glimpse of what this work is all about and to acknowledge that there is intelligence far greater than that of a human. Not as a belief, but through direct experience.

Edit: It was a pre-roll, not a blunt. (I’m editing this at 4:20 AM, how iconic!)

Edited Tuesday at 09:21 AM by Yimpa

[Leo Gura]

23 minutes ago, Yimpa said:

It was like God knocked me out. All of physicality flew out the window. But instead of being left unconscious, I was awoken; left utterly conscious and speechless for what seemed like an eternity. 

Yup. I know what you mean.

[Clarence]

2 hours ago, Yimpa said:

Ah yes, 2 deep inhales of a blunt was my introduction to the psychedelic experience. I was completely floored and blown away. It was like God knocked me out. All of physicality flew out the window. But instead of being left unconscious, I was awoken; left utterly conscious and speechless for what seemed like an eternity. 

This was back in 2018. You cannot meditate your way to this experience, indeed. It was an insane degree of consciousness. Do I regret it? Nope. It gave me a proper glimpse of what this work is all about and to acknowledge that there is intelligence far greater than that of a human. Not as a belief, but through direct experience.

Edit: It was a pre-roll, not a blunt. (I’m editing this at 4:20 AM, how iconic!)

@Yimpa That was quite an entry into the psychedelic realm!

What other psychedelics have you tried since that first experience?

@Leo Gura Have you ever tried smoking the plant even though you don't like it?

[Leo Gura]

7 hours ago, Clarence said:

Have you ever tried smoking the plant even though you don't like it?

Yes. That's why I don't like it.

Smoking any plant sucks. Pure chemicals are superior.

Edited Tuesday at 06:35 PM by Leo Gura

[Yimpa]

5 hours ago, Clarence said:

What other psychedelics have you tried since that first experience?

I’ve only done weed and ketamine.

So depending on how you look at it, I have or have never done psychedelics, since those aren’t traditionally categorized at psychedelics! 

[Clarence]

14 hours ago, Yimpa said:

I’ve only done weed and ketamine.

So depending on how you look at it, I have or have never done psychedelics, since those aren’t traditionally categorized at psychedelics! 

Indeed 

[cistanche_enjoyer]

15 hours ago, Leo Gura said:

Yes. That's why I don't like it.

Smoking any plant sucks. Pure chemicals are superior.

I don't agree with this. The weed plant has lots of other cannabinoids and terpenes that synergize with the THC and make it a better experience.

It's a bit like the reason why eating fruit is healthy but eating pure white sugar is not. In the end, both give you the energy from the same chemical (glucose/fructose), but the fruit comes with fiber, vitamins, and minerals, which make it easier for the body to turn the fruit's sugar into energy.

Of course, modern weed strains (i.e., most the stuff you find in the USA) have been bred to produce too much THC and unnatural ratios of cannabinoids and terpenes. Hence why Leo probably had a sub-optimal experience with the plant. But I would bet that if he tried an outdoor grown, non-modern strain, he would have quite a different experience and probably prefer it to the pure THC chemical.

I have tried both and I can definitely say that the plant gives way more depth to the experience. 

[Clarence]

20 hours ago, Leo Gura said:

Yes. That's why I don't like it.

Smoking any plant sucks. Pure chemicals are superior.

Were the effects very similar to pure THCA for you? I don't plan on trying the plant, but I'm curious.

[Leo Gura]

3 hours ago, Clarence said:

Were the effects very similar to pure THCA for you? I don't plan on trying the plant, but I'm curious.

Yes, weed is similar to THC-A.

THC-A + THC-B make for a perfect combo.

You can make your own combos using individual isolated cannabinoids. That is more precise and repeatable without the plant smoke harming your lungs.

You can combine as many cannabinoids as you want. But test each in isolation first.

You can take a puff of THC-A, THC-B, THC-P, THC-V, HHC, etc, to create one deep trip. This is the best technique. This way you can dial in the perfect trip for your needs. And it is repeatable.

Edited yesterday at 04:09 PM by Leo Gura

[Clarence]

@Leo Gura Thanks for all the information, it's really interesting. I'm glad you shared it.

Do you think it can be used with both e-mesh devices and vape carts?

I have both available. I'm especially wondering about a first experience with a cannabinoid. Do you make a 0.5 ml cart every time, or do you first test it with an e-mesh?

I wonder what would be the most practical. I'm also wondering how you go about mixing it with the liquid. Do I just start with a small amount of liquid (for example, 0.1 ml) and then keep adding the THC-A or other cannabinoid until it no longer dissolves? I don't really have a feel for what that would look like in practice, or whether it would require something like 100 mg or closer to 500 mg.

Also, does it need to be heated slightly to dissolve properly, or does it dissolve at room temperature?

[Leo Gura]

5 hours ago, Clarence said:

Do you think it can be used with both e-mesh devices and vape carts?

Yes.

Quote

I have both available. I'm especially wondering about a first experience with a cannabinoid. Do you make a 0.5 ml cart every time, or do you first test it with an e-mesh?

Either way will work.

Cannabinoids tend to be very sticky, which makes handling them very messy. It is not fun trying to place sticky goo in an e-mesh. You can but I would rather not ruin an e-mesh mod with sticky dirty weed resins. After a while it turns into a nasty mess and ruins your device. It is hard to clean off the weed resins. They stick to everything. Vape carts eliminate this problem entirely.

Vape carts are superior to e-mesh for cannabinoids just for practical reasons.

Quote

I wonder what would be the most practical. I'm also wondering how you go about mixing it with the liquid. Do I just start with a small amount of liquid (for example, 0.1 ml) and then keep adding the THC-A or other cannabinoid until it no longer dissolves? I don't really have a feel for what that would look like in practice, or whether it would require something like 100 mg or closer to 500 mg.

Also, does it need to be heated slightly to dissolve properly, or does it dissolve at room temperature?

You put the vape juice in a small shotglass and microwave it a bit to heat it up. Then you add whatever weed resin to it and stir to dissolve. The hotter the juice is the easier cannabinoids will dissolve into it. Microwaving results in a full dissolving. 10-20 seconds is all it takes.

You just eyeball it. Add as much THC as it can reasonably dissolve. It is nearly impossible to measure sticky weed resins accurately. You just eyeball it. About a 60:40 ratio of juice to THC is possible.

Edited 3 hours ago by Leo Gura

[Clarence]

@Leo Gura So far, I only have THCA isolate in powder form, which I believe isn't sticky. I'll try doing it the way you described.

Is there any risk of overheating the liquid when mixing, or is it forgiving?

Also, do you know how long vape carts made with THCA isolate can be stored? And is it the same for those made with resin?

[Leo Gura]

8 minutes ago, Clarence said:

@Leo Gura So far, I only have THCA isolate in powder form, which I believe isn't sticky. I'll try doing it the way you described.

THC-A is the only non-sticky THC. All the other ones are much trickier to handle.

With THC-A you can just load that onto an e-mesh with no problem.

Quote

Is there any risk of overheating the liquid when mixing, or is it forgiving?

Yeah, you want to heat it as little as possible. If you heat it too long it will get dangerously hot and could scald you.

Heat it only as much as is needed to dissolve the chemical.

Avoid heating it so much that it starts to splatter on you.

Quote

Also, do you know how long vape carts made with THCA isolate can be stored? And is it the same for those made with resin?

I don't see any limit to it. They can store for years.

Edited 3 hours ago by Leo Gura