As time passes and laws change, it is becoming apparent that the marijuana industry is not just about grabbing a dime bag from the corner dealer anymore. Marijuana is becoming a more professionalized and consumer-driven industry.
This means that options are expanding, and people are getting the chance to use substances that are somehow related to marijuana. As a result, users can have a different and new experience. One such example is Kief, a powerful byproduct of marijuana trichomes that is extremely potent.
What Is Kief?
In Morocco, kief is a mix of local tobacco and marijuana. However, this is a local delicacy, and most of the world doesn't use kief in this way.
For most people, kief is a sticky powder that is usually ground to be very fine and usually some yellow-greenish color. It is also a potent, unprocessed part of the cannabis plant. It is sometimes referred to as "cannabis crystals."
What makes kief be in such high demand? Kief is actually very potent because it has high levels of THC or tetrahydrocannabinol. THC is the specific type of cannabinoid found in marijuana responsible for the substance's intoxicating effects. The higher the THC levels, the higher an individual typically gets when using it.
Kief can be consumed in one of three ways:
- Processed into hashish cakes that can be eaten
- Vaporized
- Smoked
Consuming kief will get someone high. There usually isn't enough of the product to be smoked on its own, so it is often added to marijuana to increase the experience.
For people who grow their own supply, kief can be challenging. Accumulating enough kief to make it usable can take time, as it can take some time before you have produced enough kief to make it smokable.
Is Kief Legal?
The laws related to marijuana in the United States are constantly changing. Currently, recreational marijuana is legal in fifteen states and the District of Columbia, with more states expected to join that list in 2021. There is no question that public policy momentum is in favor of full legalization. While marijuana remains illegal at the federal government level, the incoming Biden administration has said that they favor loosening the laws about marijuana.
As a subset of marijuana, kief is treated the same way as marijuana from a legal perspective. However, it is important to keep in mind that each state may have different laws related to the substance. For example, recent regulatory changes in Colorado defined kief for sale and enforcement. According to those rules, it appears that kief is legal to be purchased, sold, and consumed in the state.
You'd have to check each state's laws for a more specific definition of the legality of kief in your state. However, if marijuana is illegal in your state, kief also is, as the substance is a subset of the marijuana plant.
How Can You Use Kief?
As noted above, kief can be eaten, vaporized, or smoked. To be as clear as possible: All of these ways will get you high.
When it comes to eating or drinking kief, people can do so in a variety of ways. Traditionally, people have pressed kief into specific types of consumables, like hash cakes. Kief can also be put into drinks. For example, many people have begun to put kief in their morning coffee or add it to tea. The result: Intoxication. In fact, more than just a standard intoxication, as it has been noted that putting Kief into coffee will result in activation of cannabinoids via the process of decarboxylation. This process will help convert THCA and CBDA into THC and CBD. The result is a more potent high.
Vaporizing kief is another popular way to use it. You would vaporize kief the same way you would use any other product that is vaporized: By placing it into a vaporizer and inhaling the steam that is creating. Any standard commercial vape should work. Just keep in mind that the same risks that apply to vaping also apply to kief, and there are serious safety concerns when it comes to vaping.
Last, you can smoke kief. Again, this can be done by engaging in the same process by which you normally smoke marijuana: You add kief to whatever device you use to smoke it. You may find that you don't have enough kief to smoke it on its own in many cases. If that is the case, you can add kief to a standard dose of marijuana to have a more potent high.
Regardless of how you use the kief, one thing is certain: You don't need to use a lot. Because kief is so potent, a punch of kief is often enough to result in intoxication. As such, if you are looking for a new marijuana experience, you may want to try kief. Just make sure you are ready for the experience and understand that it will be more powerful than your standard high.
