Have you ever encountered a rogue nug from a stash you believed was used up long ago and wondered if it’s still alright to smoke?
It may sound like a fantastic idea, but the reality is that getting high from expired weed is not a friendly experience and could induce undesirable effects, including headaches, vomiting, and diarrhea.
There are also methods to avoid bad smoking weed, maintain the freshness and strength of your cannabis, and guarantee that it is stored away correctly to preserve its shelf life.
Please read this guide to discover the indications of expired weed and how to save your cannabis and maintain its shelf life.
Does Weed Expire?
While weed doesn’t expire in the way that, say, a tub of yogurt does, it does impact the quality and potency over time.
Cannabis that has been cropped and stored should maintain a shelf life of up to 6 months. Shelf life is up to a year, but it won’t taste as fresh as when first bought. After a year, quality and THC content begins to decline immensely.
Even in a sealed container, weed loses its strength as time passes.
Has Your Weed Expired? How To Tell
If you are uncertain if you should dispose of your expired cannabis or if it’s still secure to consume, there are elements to look out for before taking your following action.
Below is a list of 5 things to keep a lookout for.
Smell
Weed will have a different scent depending on the strain. Nevertheless, if your weed is new, it will hold its distinctive bright, ounce of weed green smell full of aromatic terpenes.
Old weed, on the other hand, loses that aroma completely. So instead, it may smell stale, or it may just smell like nothing at all. If your weed smells stale, kind of like hay, that means it has expired, and it’s time to dispose of it.
Appearance
Old weed loses its rich color and looks pale, dusty, and dry.
Weed kept with too much moisture can create mold, which you’ll see when you start grinding your nugs up to put in your grinder.
Be aware offuzzy greyish-white spots, and if your weed has any visible mold, you need to get rid of it instantly.
For more knowledge on moldy weed and how to tell if your weed is moldy, check out our helpful guide.
Texture
Old weed feels dense, dehydrated, and crumbly. It will break apart effortlessly, even when touched gently.
Yet, there are cases when weed gets overhydrated and will feel moist and absorbent. As a result, it doesn’t break down effortlessly and feels sticky when you try to grind it.
In both cases, it’s more promising to destroy it for the sake of your well-being.
Taste
Older weed can also alter the taste.
Old weed usually creates harsh smoke, aggravates the lungs, and unpleasant smoking experience. In addition, when smoking old weed, you won’t taste any of the aromatic terpenes abundant in quality, fresh cannabis.
Effects
Even if you’re capable of getting past the terrible flavor of stale cannabis, you may not want the outcomes it has on your body and the endocannabinoid system. THC degradation suggests it will not deliver the likable high you enjoyed when it was new, as well as its many medicinal effects.
Consuming old weed can lead to nausea, headaches, and an upset stomach. Additionally, inhaling mold spores can lead to very serious health problems. Avoid weed that has expired, formed mold, and tastes rough.
How to Keep Your Weed Fresh
The first step in securing cannabis’ long shelf-life is good growing practices.
Most growers pick their weed as cannabis trichomes (the cannabinoid-filled, crystal-like hairs that coat the outside of weed) change from white to amber; trichomes additional darkening and turning red point to the degradation of grade.
After harvesting, the weed is left in a temperature-monitored room to get rid of excess moisture to prevent mold once they are filled into storage containers.
Those measures should still be taken before we obtain the final product.
Appropriate storage is essential to keep weed fresh for as long as possible from the time we receive our product.
How To Keep Weed Fresh: Best Ways To Store and Preserve
Dispensary usually put their products into air-tight containers; but, if your cannabis comes in a bag, you should transfer it to an air-tight container. Glass jars, such as sugar canisters and mason jars, are ideal for this job. Please keep them in a cool, dark place out of direct sunlight.
If your weed is drying out too fast despite being correctly stored, try using humidity packs.
These packs are either put into the lid of your marijuana dispensary container or positioned directly in with your flower and are made to balance humidity and keep your weed completely hydrated without going moldy.
A humidity pack last up to 4 months, after which it should be replaced.
Some individuals also recommend storing weed in the freezer to keep it new, but we recommend against this. Freezing temperatures cause more rapiddegradation and loss of THC. So while your weed will probably survive in the freezer, it will not be new when you retrieve it.
Can you Smoke Old Weed?
If your weed shows any sign of mold growth, you need to discard it. There’s no need to save moldy cannabis, and you do not want to consume mold spores into your lungs.
If your weed is dried out, one can try rehydrating it. One of the most direct rehydrating methods is to place a small piece of citrus peel in the container with your dry weed, tighten the lid on securely, and leave it for a few hours.
The peel will imbue moisture and a subtle citrusy core into the flower. Nevertheless, it’s easy to cross the threshold of over-hydrating your flower, so check on its advancement often and don’t leave the peel in for an extended period.
You can also try incorporating your older weed into your new flower. But, again, the fresh cannabis will weaken the awful taste from the stale bud.
If you don’t want to rehydrate or combine it with a new batch, another possibility for using up your old cannabis is turning it into edibles.
Since cannabis must be decarboxylated before infusing it into butter or oil for edibles, it’s no big deal if it’s overly dry. Instead, utilize it to create cannabutter, cannabis oil, or any different edible of your choosing.
This is only a possible option for dried-out weed. As mentioned, moldy weed should always be destroyed.
Does Weed Expire? There are Ways To Preserve It
Yes, weed does expire over the duration. Sufficiently harvested and stored cannabis remains new and smokable for up to 6 months and begins to lose its strength as time passes.
Follow our recommendations to lengthen the life of your cannabis and discard weed that has expired and formed mold.
And make sure not to purchase inexpensive weed! That’s the most helpful way to avoid weed from going bad and guarantee that the most satisfactory product goes into your body.
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And as always, happy trails
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