Cannabis has been used in the form of medicine for countless generations. Scholars like Carl Ruck believe that cannabis was used as a form of a religious sacrament back in ancient Greece and Jerusalem. Ruck specializes in studying the role plants played in inducing altered states of consciousness for the purpose of religious ceremony and shamanic rituals. 

Cannabis has been on record as a recreational drug for less recorded time. The first recorded use of cannabis recreationally was in Mexico, per Leafly. Laborers were reported smoking marijuana cigarettes as early as 1865. Rolling papers themselves were created in Spain around 1764. Pay-Pay papers were created in Alicante, Spain and were exported all over the world in exchange for tobacco.

Marijuana cigarettes are now simply known as joints and are the most popular mode of cannabis consumption on the planet. Joint rolling and smoking started to pick up in the 1920’s when alcohol prohibition was active. “Reefer Madness” became a government pushed anti-cannabis propaganda campaign to dissuade the public from using cannabis. Harry J. Anslinger helped fuel this propaganda by stoking misguided fears of Mexican immigrants and their alleged dangerous marijuana use. With the help of Randolph H. Hearst and his media empire, cannabis prohibition became the federal standard for the next 70 years with the 1937 Marijuana Tax Act.

Although cannabis use was being deterred, joint rolling never died, and even picked up rapidly during the civil rights movement and anti-war counter culter of the 1960’s. Hippies and Rastafarians became the face of joint smoking culture and celebrities like Bob Marley and Willie Nelson made the joint cool and helped usher it to a mainstream audience at a time when cannabis use was not only frowned upon but subject to draconian drug laws.

Joint smoking has come a long way since the 1800’s. Joint papers and rolling tools have become much more advanced. There are even devices that can produce perfectly rolled joints time after time. Many smokers prefer the ritual of joint rolling. There’s just something special about breaking down the flower and twisting up, sealing the joint with your own saliva, and sparking up. While joint rolling techniques have been evolving since its inception,  the same basic principles remain the same. Master the basics and everything else comes naturally. Joint rolling remains one of the trickiest stoner tools you can master, but doing so will make you the hit of your next stoner circle or social event.

Joint Rolling Basics

Select The Flower you want for your joint. Flower texture is important. Fresh weed that can stick together is helpful for keeping weed in the wrap during the rolling process. Sticky weed also helps keep the joint in sturdy shape while rolling.

Select Wrap Style for your joint. There are literally hundreds of joint paper brands to choose from. They come in different lengths, made out of different things like hemp versus rice paper. The type of paper really comes down to user preference. If you’ve never rolled, king size papers might be easiest for rookie rollers.

(You can also buy pre-wrapped cones that simplify this entire process for you. Just grind up some weed and stuff them until they’re full. This won’t help you get better at rolling, but will suffice if frustration takes hold.)

Breaking Flower Down might be the most important step of this process. It’s a step many people cut corners on and its to the detriment of the joint smoking experience. You need to make sure all the flower is clear of stems. Stems will tear right through joint papers. When rolling blunts there’s some leniency to this rule because blunt wraps are tougher and harder to tear.  Stems can absolutely negate a great roll, so take extra precaution during this step.

Construct/Place Filter in your joint. Joint crutches/filters will help stabilize the joints structural integrity and help filter tar and Scooby snacks. Joint crutches also allow you to smoke the entire joint, getting rid of that smelly roach collection.

Roll/Twist the joint. Some people roll from the middle and work out; others like to start at the ends and work their way into the middle. Which-ever way you go, the actions your making with your fingers remain the same. When the joint is in your fingers, you want to pinch and roll one side of the wrap down with your thumbs while rolling the other side around with your index fingers. Your almost pinching your thumbs between your index and middle fingers. Don’t worry about weed falling out, this will happen. Remain calm and keep placing weed back in the middle of the joint and roll it back into shape.

Seal the joint. Using residual saliva from your lips, gently dab the unsealed end of the blunt and roll it down to seal. Once sealed, stuff any extra weed in the end of fill it out.

Spark your joint. Make sure your spark the end evenly and puff it to get an even ember started. Pass to the left and enjoy. Your first couple joints might not smoke properly, this is to be expected. Just keep rolling and it will become second nature sooner rather than later.

Adults 21 and over can purchase up to one ounce of usable cannabis flower, 16 ounces of cannabis-infused edibles in solid form, 72 ounces of cannabis drinkables, and 7 grams of cannabis concentrates.

If you’re a registered medical cannabis patient, the limits are:

Three ounces of usable cannabis flower, forty-eight ounces of cannabis-infused edibles in solid form, two hundred sixteen ounces of cannabis drinkables, and twenty-one grams of cannabis concentrates, per the Washington State Department of Health.

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