How to (Affordably) Build up Your Marijuana Toolkit

If you’ve been rolling the same janky blunts for years, it’s time you step into contemporary weed culture. At the end of the second decade in the new millennium, recreational marijuana is legal in nine states, and medical marijuana is legal in 30. As a result, it is easier than ever to update your marijuana toolkit with the latest and greatest gadgets, including high-tech vapes, gorgeous glass bongs and more. In today’s wide-open weed market, you can afford more than rolling papers. Here’s how to shop for better cannabis equipment, so you can get high in the 21st century.

Look Online

Your first stop for affordable marijuana paraphernalia should always be online stores. The web full of outstanding deals, even for potheads like us. Your local headshops are subject to exorbitant taxes - sales, tax, tobacco tax, marijuana tax, etc. - but most online stores aren’t, especially if they don’t have a physical presence in your state. Thus, even if the price of the product is exactly the same as you would find in a store, you will likely be paying less by buying online. However, you shouldn’t turn to your typical ecommerce outlets, like Amazon. Believe it or not, major retailers like Amazon don’t have the best prices on weed tools - and this is for a variety of reasons. First, because cannabis remains illegal in many states as well as federally, the sale of weed-related products is exceedingly risky. Thus, Amazon has only a small selection of surprisingly expensive bongs, pipes and THC vapes, and few of them are high quality. Instead, for the best bongs to buy online at a reasonable price, you should turn to smaller online sellers. Not only does this support small businesses - which are the backbone of our economy, by the way - but you can be certain that their customer service will be top-notch. Likely, most of these sellers have used these products and can stand by their quality, so you know you are getting a tool you will use, even if it isn’t break-the-bank expensive.

Consider Used

If you are afraid of giving your address out online to known purveyors of marijuana paraphernalia - we hear you. As an alternative, you might consider looking for a used weed kit you can pick up locally. You can peruse local classified ads, like your regional Craigslist site, for pipes, bongs and similar tools. If recreational or medicinal marijuana is available in your area, posts might be straightforward, advertising exactly what the tools are on offer. However, if your area is less-than-friendly to weed smokers, you might refine your search for sneaky keywords. Often, pipes and bongs will be sold as tobacco products instead of weed products, and you can also keep your eyes peeled for “420” content. If you do buy any used marijuana device, you should take pains to clean and sanitize it before use. Not only will this protect you from unwanted diseases, but it will also make your first smoke super fresh. Fortunately, the process is relatively easy: • For a bong, pour rubbing alcohol into the chamber and add a generous amount of salt. Swirl the bong until the resin is loosened and dissolved. Then, pour out that solution and rinse with clean water. • For a pipe or bubbler, fill a zip-top bag with rubbing alcohol and place the pipe or bubbler inside. Shake the bag gently - or if the resin appears old and well-stuck, allow the pipe or bubbler to soak overnight. Rinse with clean water. For a vape pen, the process is a bit more involved, requiring some specialized tools. Still, you must do this if you buy a used vape.

Share With Friends

Your last option, if you still can’t complete an affordable weed toolkit, is to turn to those you smoke with. You might be able to pool your money and purchase a sweet set of pipes and bongs, or else you can take advantage of your friends’ tools while you save up to buy your own. If you can’t get high with a little help from your friends, they probably aren’t true friends, anyway. As you get older, your taste in weed should refine - and the tools you use to seek that sweet high should become more varied. It’s time you start building your collection of marijuana tools, and using the above tips, you don’t even have to empty your weed budget to do it.