Can You Smoke Decarbed Weed?

If you’ve retrieved some decarbed weed and thinking about adding it to your blunt or bong, you’ve come to the right place. So, can you smoke decarbed weed? Here’s what we know. 

Photo by Elsa Donald on Unsplash

Photo: Unsplash

What is Decarbed Weed?

Before we get into whether or not you can smoke decarbed weed, let’s talk about what it really is.

Decarbed weed is a short way of saying decarboxylated weed. In the decarboxylation process, a carboxyl group (COOH) is removed by heating it, and carbon dioxide is released.

Naturally, you’re wondering what is the purpose of doing this.

According to a 2016 scientific article, “Decarboxylation is an important step for efficient production of the major active components in cannabis, for example, Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ9-THC), cannabidiol (CBD), and cannabigerol (CBG).”

The article continues, “These cannabinoids do not occur in significant concentrations in cannabis but can be formed by decarboxylation of their corresponding acids, the predominant cannabinoids in the plant.”

To put it simply, weed has to be decarboxylated so that you feel the effects of cannabinoids. That’s why people opt to smoke a blunt instead of just snacking on weed buds. Lighting the blunt decarboxylates the weed allowing you to get high. 

In addition to that, you have to decarb weed before you make cannabis products like edibles or tinctures. 

Fortunately, it’s not hard to decarboxylate weed, you can even do it in the microwave.

However, sometimes when people talk about decarboxylated weed, they’re referring to already vaped bud (AVB). 

With that in mind, let’s talk about whether or not you can smoke AVB. 

Can I Smoke Decarbed Weed?

Yes, you can, however, it’s not recommended. 

If you have decarbed weed from your vape, you may not want to smoke it. 

Winston Peki, Chief Researcher, Reviewer, Editor in Chief at Herbonaut tells us, “This used bud from a vaporizer always has some cannabinoids left inside. While you can smoke this and extract what’s left out of it, it will taste absolutely horrible, I would even say disgusting. This is because all terpenes are completely gone.”

If you can tolerate the taste for a great high, decarbed weed still wouldn’t work.

Peki explains that if you smoke decarbed weed, you’re likely to get a very heavy, stoney, high.

You’re probably wondering why smoking decarbed weed produces unpleasant effects.

Well, as Peki tells us, “The theory here is that there’s [a] much higher ratio of cannabinoids that have strong physical effects in decarbed cannabis, like CBD, CBN. These cannabinoids have higher boiling points than THC.”

Therefore, these will be the most common cannabinoids in decarbed weed since THC would have already been released. 

Some stoners on Reddit concur Peki’s sentiments. 

One Reddit user commented, “Done it several times before, its really weak when you smoke it especially if your tolerance is high but like it depends how extracted the weed is, better to just eat it or make butter imo.”

In another thread, someone else commented, “It is pretty much toast, the amount of THC left is minimal. The taste is even worse, IMO. I tried smoking it once and that was enough for me.”

Interestingly, not everybody has this experience with decarbed weed. 

One Reddit user said, “I just smoked a bowl of decarbed weed……. it feels like a more mellow high than usual with this bud.”

What Can I Do With Decarbed Weed?

Many stoners hate wasting weed and want to use up every bit of it. 

Fortunately, there are things you can do with decarbed weed. 

If you use freshly decarbed weed, then you shouldn’t have much of a problem. 

This will be perfect for your firecracker edible (or any other edible). 

You can also use it for tinctures or turn it into a topical like cannabis cream. 

You can also add it to your cannabutter. 

If the decarbed weed you have was already vaped (AVB), you can still use it to do all of the above. 

However, the products you make with it probably won’t be as potent since most of the THC was used already. 

Royal Queen Seeds say, “After being exposed to high temperatures of up to 227°C (440°F), the majority of the cannabinoids and terpenes in AVB are released into vapor and inhaled.”

In addition to the options we’ve mentioned, Royal Queen Seeds recommends infusing already vaped buds with:

• Coconut oil
• Capsules
• Tea
• Coffee

Royal Queen Seeds also mentions, “you can also try mixing it with some fresher, more potent weed to elongate your stash and save some money.”

Takeaway

Can you smoke decarbed weed? Yes, but we don’t recommend it. Many stoners find that smoking already vaped bud to be unpleasant. However, you don’t have to toss it. You can reuse decarbed weed to make tea, edibles, tinctures, and so much more. Chances are they still won’t be as good as freshly decarbed weed. But if you mix it with fresher weed, it could be worth it!