If you are new to cannabis and don’t have the gear to roll a joint, you’re in luck. A pre-roll is just what it sounds like: An already-wrapped cannabis cigarette filled with finely ground cannabis. Besides sparing you the potential embarrassment of struggling to roll a presentable fattie yourself, pre-rolled joints have a lot of positives.
But, before you can truly enjoy one, it’s always a good idea to know exactly how to light it up and inhale—and we’ll help you get started. Learn how to smoke a pre-roll and find out other important information, like:
- What types of pre-rolls are there?
- What makes up a pre-roll?
- How long do pre-rolls last?
… and so much more. Ready? Let’s get rolling!
Types of Pre-Rolls
From skinny dog-walkers to tightly packed blunts to potent infused j’s, there are a lot of ways to enjoy a pre-rolled joint or blunt. Here are the basic categories:
Standard Pre-Rolled Joint
Whether sold independently or in a tasting pack of different strains, the standard joint is the basic unit of the pre-roll world. Some are skinny and designed for a single person, like dog walker joints, while others are fatter and best shared among friends. Still others are cone-shaped, allowing you to stuff more cannabis into the end you light. Either way, they’re all simple devices designed to make smoking cannabis simple, portable, and fun.
How much weed is in a joint? It varies depending on the maker. If you’re getting a pre-roll, you’ll usually find them on dispensary shelves in one whole gram or half a gram. However, if you’re rolling your own joints, one study puts the average amount in handcrafted joints at about a third of a gram of cannabis, which means you could get roughly 84 joints from an ounce of weed.
Infused Pre-Roll
This variant takes the pre-roll concept even higher with the addition of cannabis concentrate to the ground flower. You can choose to use your leftover kief—the dried trichomes that produce the bulk of the plant’s cannabinoids—as your concentrate addition, or you can dip the entire joint in cannabis oil or other form of cannabis concentrate.
Either way, be advised: Infused cannabis products are a good deal more potent than standard weed, so if you’ve never smoked them before, then start low and go slow.
The Blunt
A classic smoke of the ‘80s and ‘90s, a blunt is a variation of a pre-roll that uses tobacco leaves instead of rolling papers, thus creating a product that looks more like a cigar. Many consumers will actually take a cigar, carefully slit it open, remove the tobacco, and replace the filling with ground cannabis flower. Blunts can also be infused with various concentrates.
Whichever variation you choose, infused or not, smoking a blunt requires restraint. On top of its huge size, the natural outer leaves of the cigar will impart a pungent and intense tobacco flavor, along with some nicotine. If it’s your first time smoking a blunt, make sure that when you inhale the smoke, you don’t take in too much at once and don’t try to hold it in your lungs for longer than a couple of seconds.
What’s In a Pre-Roll?
Unlike some complex pipes and bongs, a pre-roll isn’t mechanically complicated. Most are created with “single wide” rolling papers—roughly 2.75” x 1.4”—and can be made of rice, bamboo, or hemp.
Many pre-rolled joints come with a rolled-up piece of paper or some other material inserted into one end. This simple filter, known as a “crutch,” makes it easy to hold the joint and can prevent burning embers from entering your mouth.
How to Smoke a Pre-Roll: Step-by-Step Guide
Here’s where the rubber meets the road—or, should we say, the flame meets the cannabis? The process of actually smoking a joint or blunt is pretty simple, and you’ll get the hang of it quickly.
First things first: If you’re smoking a joint with no filter and it’s the same diameter along its entire length, choose which end to light. If you’re smoking a pre-roll that has a crutch, light the end without it.
- Hold your joint in one hand and the lighter in the other. Light the lighter and start burning one end of your joint.
- When the cannabis at the tip of the pre-roll has caught a good burn, bring the joint to your lips and carefully suck in air in small, short puffs to get a cherry going and to ensure the joint won’t burn out immediately after the first hit.
- Once the pre-roll is well-lit, take a longer draw and allow the smoke to travel into your lungs.
- Hold the smoke for a couple of seconds and then exhale.
- When finished, gently extinguish the pre-roll by pinching off the lit cherry or gently stubbing it out.
- If you saved the original packaging, you’ll have a safe place to store it until next time—assuming there’s any left!
As with all inhaled cannabis, you can expect a pre-roll to take effect within a few minutes, so we advise against heroic hits—especially when you’re just starting out. Instead, a small hit allows you to get a sense of how easily the joint draws.
Bonus Tip: Be mindful that the flame doesn’t run down one side of the paper, creating a “canoe” and wasting precious smoke. If it does, run a moistened fingertip along the paper to discourage the flame from spreading.
Tips for Storing Pre-Rolls
Besides knowing how to properly smoke a joint, you can follow some extra tips to get the most from your pre-rolls, including how to keep them fresher for longer.
How long do pre-rolls last? As with all cannabis products, light and oxygen are the enemies of fresh weed. If you’re expecting to store your pre-rolls for an extended period of time, consider sealing them in Mason jars or some other airtight container and then placing them in a dark environment away from the sun.
What about the refrigerator or freezer? While storing cannabis products in an extra-cold environment might make intuitive sense, in reality, it invites the possibility of mold or mildew from the accumulation of moisture, plus the chance of mechanical breakage as buds freeze and thaw. When stored properly, you can expect a fresh pre-roll to last for a good six months, if not longer.
Shop Quality Pre-Rolls and More at Mission
If you’ve never rolled a joint, pre-rolls can be a convenient gift from above. On top of allowing you to easily sample new strains and flavors, joints and blunts may feature hard-hitting potency enhancers such as kief, hash, or other forms of cannabis concentrate. Along with these extra benefits, one thing we know for sure: Pre-rolls are the easiest way to share the joy of cannabis with friends!
Want to light up something new? We’re here for you! Start by choosing the Mission dispensary closest to you, and you’ll find a vast selection of quality pre-rolls and fresh cannabis flower for your joints and blunts.
Have more questions about pre-rolls? Ask our knowledgeable staff or check out our blog for expert tips and information on all things bud. You’ll find authoritative and easy-to-absorb information on cannabis basics, such as our guide to how (and why) to use a weed grinder and so much more. Happy reading!
