It happens to every weed lover now and then. You open up a stash box or drawer and voila! There lies a bag of weed you'd completely forgotten about. Suddenly the memories return. There was a big party and you wanted to ensure you'd have some weed left at the end of the night, so you stashed it. Now, a year and a half later, here it is. Beckoning to you. But is it still viable? Or will it produce naught but a sore throat and a headache? In this post, the team at Puffr's wholesale head shop tackles the issue head-on.

First Things First: Does Weed Expire?

Finding a stash of old weed is like hitting the lottery (without the inevitable moochers that come with winning lots of money). There's shock and surprise followed by questions about how best to use the unexpected bonanza. But one question supersedes all others. Is it still good? Will old weed still deliver on the buzz front?

The good news is that, in theory, weed does not expire. At least not in a couple of years. But that doesn't necessarily mean you want to smoke it. If the herb was stashed in a damp place it may be covered in a light, fluffy mold. And nothing makes the team here at the wholesale smoke shop want to hurl quite like a moldy weed. The bottom line is that if the weed is covered in mold the best thing to do is toss it and get on with your life.

However, if it's mold-free and even has some of its unique smell when you open the bag then it's party time folks! Research suggests the THC hit starts declining after about six months and loses about 25% of its potency every two years after that. So it may not open doors to other timelines and heightened states of existence the way it once did, but you should still be able to cop a buzz from it, even if it's a couple of years old.

Even if it's dehydrated, odorless, and stale that doesn't mean it can't still be put to good use. And that's precisely what we're here to look at today; ways to make the most of your old weed.

Five Ways to Repurpose Old Weed

So, you found a stash of old weed in a drawer or a backpack you haven't used in a while. You've determined that it's a couple of years old and it has avoided attracting mold. So far so good. Now what? Can you just break out the customized bong or the rolling papers and party like it was 2019?

You can try, but chances are it's going to be devoid of much of the flavor and aroma that made it such a compelling experience when it was fresh. A better idea might be to repurpose it using one of the following tried and true techniques.

Make Edibles

When you use your old weed to make edibles you get to enjoy the mind-altering characteristics without having to endure the stale, lifeless taste and lack of aroma. If you have never made edibles before the most important thing is to make sure you bake the old weed first.

When you bake the weed you produce decarboxylation, which is a $10 word that means you activate the THC and CBD in the weed. After baking the weed infuse it with butter or coconut oil. It is this mixture that you will eventually add to your brownie mix or other edible.

If you don't do this and simply add the old, unbaked weed to your other ingredients you'll have a brownie that doesn't do anything except leave a bad taste in your mouth.

Make Concentrates

The great thing about cannabis concentrates is that you don't have to smoke them and deal with all the byproducts produced by combustion. Instead, you vaporize them and inhale the cleaner, typically healthier vapor cloud.

Making concentrates from your old weed is not as difficult as it sounds. The easiest way to do it is decidedly old school and involves rolling the flower between your palms. As you do so the sticky trichomes (that contain all that THC goodness) stick to your hands while the useless stuff falls away.

Basically, just keep rolling and keep scraping the sticky residue off your hands and onto a plate until you are confident you've extracted everything you can from the old weed. Then it's time to bust out your dab rig or pocket vape and enjoy the fruits of your labor.

Rehydrate It

Earlier we alluded to the fact that cannabis dries out over time, making for a very undesirable and unpleasant smoking experience. But wouldn't you know it? Some clever blokes have figured out how you can rehydrate historical weed and actually make it smokable again.

One way to rehydrate veteran weed is to put it in a mason jar (or any jar with a tight-sealing lid) toss in some humidity packs and leave it for a few days. Another way is to put the weed in the same mason jar and, instead of tossing in humidity packs, toss in a (fresh) fruit peel and seal the jar up tight. After 24 to 36 hours (no longer) remove the peel and your weed should be good to go.

Will it have all the wonderful qualities of garden fresh herb? No, but the smoking experience will be several steps up from what it would be if you tried sparking up the shriveled buds right after you found them.

Use Your Dry Herb Vaporizer

As long as your antique weed is not moldy you may not have to use any of the above techniques to glean an acceptable buzz from it. If you have a dry herb vaporizer you can try loading the prodigal weed directly into it just as it is.

In fact, because your old weed is considerably dryer than fresh weed it's probably better suited for the dry herb vaporizer and will wind up producing some thick, juicy vapor clouds. As a bonus, you won't have to choke on old weed smoke. If you don't have a dry herb vape you can pick one up at our wholesale head shop.

Dry Sift

Earlier we suggested you could separate trichomes from old weed by rubbing it between your palms. You can then take the resulting concentrate and enjoy it with your dab rig. But if you are not a fan of the rubbing method you can still extract those tasty trichomes via the process of dry sifting.

Just subject your old weed to a spin in your grinder. The resulting powder (called “kief”) will be trichome-rich and can be sprinkled on top of a bowl of fresh weed, or added to a joint made with fresh weed to boost the potency.

SHOP GRINDERS

Depend on Our Wholesale Smoke Shop for all Your Cannabis-Related Needs

So there you have it. Five ways to repurpose old weed that will work with just about any herb that's less than five or six years old and has not succumbed to mold.

If you're looking for customized glass pipes to enjoy your found weed in, or you are in search of wholesale custom bongs to stock your smoke shop shelves, get in touch with the team at Puffr today. Our brick-and-mortar shop is open seven days a week and our online wholesale head shop never closes.