Five Ways to Use Less Marijuana

medical cannabis and one hitter pipe
Brian Goodman/shutterstock

Let's face it, weed can be expensive! Whether you're buying the best stuff available or just buying a large quantity of whatever's around or both, you can run up a pretty big bill really quickly. Even smoking an eighth of your favorite cannabis strain a week can eat up a significant chunk of your monthly income. Here's something to consider when you're thinking about how to use less marijuana: Your consumption method may be making your hobby or medical treatment more expensive.

Rolling and smoking joints is one of the most popular ways to use weed, and it's definitely a ton of fun. It's also a pretty huge waste of bud. Let's explore some ways to help you use less weed and spend less money.

Try Hand Pipes & One-Hitters

hand holding 2 colorful glass pipes with the new year's resolution to clean your cannabis accessories more often

Hand pipes are a classic smoker's companion and for good reason. A spoon pipe with a carb hole is a simple apparatus, offering a bit of control over airflow that really makes a difference. Spoon pipes can be cheap and come in an astonishing variety of designs capable of suiting diverse tastes. They're portable and have the advantage of not leaving your fingers stinky like a joint or a blunt. You can even find spoon pipes with more than one bowl, so you easily can portion out multiple strains into one session.

On the opposite end of the spectrum are one-hitters, which are carb-less pipes designed to deliver one good-sized hit. It doesn't get more cost-effective than a one-hitter!

Invest in a Glass Blunt

glass container of marijuana

If you just don't want to let go of the joint smoking experience, you can still use less marijuana with a Glass Blunt. A Glass Blunt consists of three pieces:

  • The main tube in which you pack your ground bud
  • A smaller tube that works like a reverse glass filter tip
  • And a rubber or silicone gasket holding the two tube pieces together.

To use a Glass Blunt, you simply adjust the tubes so that there's the right amount of space for how much bud you want to smoke. These help you use less marijuana by allowing you to portion your smokes accurately. If you know you have a gram to last you throughout the day, you can pack a glass blunt and use it throughout the day, or pack it three different times for a fresher flavor in each smoke.

Bust Out the Bong

bong in front of sunset on the beach

When used properly, bongs and water pipes can be a cost-effective way to use less marijuana. Depending on the bowl size, a bong can hold multiple hits worth of weed when you want to share. You can also easily portion a bong bowl by using the corner method. Rather than lighting the bowl right in the middle, try touching the flame to just a corner of it. With the airflow being pulled through the bottom of the bowl, it will burn almost straight down, leaving the rest of the green untouched.

Bongs are the most effective option thus far, due to their diffusion and percolation. As smoke travels through water, it cools down. That means that you can take a large hit and cough significantly less than with a dry pipe. While there's no evidence that bong hits increase the potency of your smoke, anecdotal evidence says that using a water pipe feels like a much more powerful hit.

Switch It Up With Concentrates

marijuana wax

If you want to use less marijuana, you might want to try switching to cannabis concentrates on a partial or permanent basis. Concentrates and extracts contain a much higher amount of THC than flower, with levels ranging from 50-60% all the way up to the 99% pure THCa crystalline.

In the past, you had to pay a serious premium for all that extra THC because the processes and equipment used to make concentrates were new and unique to a few producers. Now that concentrate is widely available in legal weed markets and quickly gaining popularity, prices have dropped significantly enough to make them a viable option for any budget.

Nowadays, a gram of potent concentrate can be had for as little as $20 in some places. Given how powerful concentrates are, they're a cost-effective way to use less marijuana. One dab is like smoking a whole bowl at once and depending on the price of the concentrate you're probably getting much more bang for your buck.

If you’re looking to get the best bang for your buck, check out our Leafbuyer deals!

Keep Things Consistent

measuring weed

Of course, you can also alter your mindset to help you use less marijuana. Instead of smoking until you feel like you're done, try purposefully measuring out your sessions beforehand. From there, you can experiment with all these weed-saving smoking methods and keep more money in your pocket.