In a moment of genius sparked by a twaxed joint, a sizable bowl of Sherbert and a loaded handful of lime-flavored tortilla chips, I conceived a stoned thought that could change the world: Can I keep getting high by rebreathing my own exhaled weed smoke?
If indeed possible, this would mean unlimited access to being stoned without having to purchase weed ever again — I could just smoke my smoke, then smoke that smoke and continue smoking smoke until my conscience inevitably departs from my material body after unlocking the keys to some wicked, uncharted ethereal realms.
I know, brilliant.
Despite my initial enthusiasm, I did later discover that I wasn’t the first person to come up with this concept: Over a decade ago, someone posed the same question to Yahoo! Answers, and a similar inquiry was posted to Reddit about eight months ago. The commenters seem to agree that you can indeed re-smoke exhaled weed smoke, but not over and over and over again.
While I wanted to believe the internet, I knew I needed some more trusted opinions on the matter if I expected to make the most of my genius. First, I emailed cannabis connoisseur Dee Dussault, who happens to be on her 10th anniversary Ganja Yoga Teacher Training tour through the U.S. and Canada. Her expert opinion more or less aligned with those on the internet. “While most of the medicine’s molecules will enter the bloodstream on the first inhalation, a ‘second inhale’ from a previous exhale still has some juice,” she explains. “Along with being the founder of Ganja Yoga, I’m also a cannabis-enhanced sex coach, and I suggest that couples toke from each other’s mouths — even if the potency is less strong, you can still catch a buzz.”
I also spoke with medical cannabis expert Dustin Sulak, who pointed me toward a smoking technique that he often recommends to patients hoping to make the most of their weed stashes. I suggest you watch this video, where he describes the method in detail, but the concept is that inhaling exhaled weed smoke can help you achieve a stronger high with a smaller dose. Sweet!
Still, Dussault reiterates that weed smoke can only be smoked so many times. “I’d only recommend doing it once,” she says. “The flavorful terpenes and medicinal cannabinoids are less potent with each exhale.”
At this point, I shamelessly asked my girlfriend to exhale two sizable lungfuls of weed smoke into a venti Starbucks coffee cup, upon which I smoked that smoke — and yeah, I almost immediately felt a minor head buzz. It was nothing substantial, but it was something. I even typed out the following sentence, which certainly sounds like I was a bit high: I am actually kinda high, which is especially noticeable upon standing up from my desk.
So while my dream of smoking smoke for the rest of my smoking career is less plausible than it seemed in that stoned moment, at least we stoners can rest easy knowing that, in a pinch, we can smoke some smoke for a quick, smoky buzz.
Ian Lecklitner
Ian Lecklitner is a staff writer at MEL Magazine. He mostly writes about everyone's favorite things: Sex, drugs and food.
