While isolation during the COVID crisis is certainly no fun, it is giving a much-needed boost to the cannabis industries across the country.
Dispensaries are reporting lines out the door of medical and recreational users eager to stock up on their substance of choice, which will undoubtedly make quarantine a little more bearable.
While some states are experimenting with loosening some lockdown restrictions, most public health officials expect a second wave of infections to drive most of the population back inside.
Whether you live in Los Angeles or Kansas City, you need to prepare mentally and physically for a second phase of isolation — and that means investing in a good grip of the good green to stay entertained.
But, after the first few nights of couch lock wear off, you might be looking for other exciting home-based activities to keep you engaged and entertained while high.
Whether you are still in lockdown or are just looking for new weed ideas, here are some things to do at home after smoking marijuana.
Do Something Creative and Fastidious
It is a pervasive myth that intoxicants like alcohol and weed make you more creative.
In truth, because marijuana relaxes the mind and body, the drug makes it more difficult for you to focus your thoughts, which can make activities like idea generation or development exceedingly difficult.
If you do believe that pot makes you more creative, what you might be sensing is your lower inhibitions; while high, you are less likely to second-guess yourself, so you might find it easier to expand on thoughts and emotions.
In other words, if you have been struggling to do something creative because it is difficult or you fear making mistakes, getting high might help you get it done.
Even if you struggle to produce something new while high, you can still participate in creative works.
Creative kits like paint-by-numbers, embroidery patterns, miniature models and more include step-by-step instructions for creating something you can be proud of.
Kits like these are inexpensive, and they can help focus your thoughts on something other than work, family or COVID-19.
Walk the Neighborhood and Be Social From a Distance
You need to get out of your house. Cabin fever, the fun name for a slew of mental diseases associated with isolation, is bad for your health, so even if you merely walk around the block for an hour or so every day, you can help keep your mind and body well throughout the crisis.
You should try taking different routes around your neighborhood to see different houses — and you might also take a few of your trips after a good toke.
Marijuana will help you gain new perspectives on the place where you live, which could keep your mind engaged as you trod the same path as dozens of times before.
While it isn’t wise to walk directly next to others outside your household — or to venture onto someone else’s property — you might consider striking up conversation with anyone you see outside during your daily stroll.
From a distance of at least six feet, you might ask how your neighbors are holding up, whether you can do anything for them or if they have any ideas for activities to pass the time.
Though you can’t get up close, you can build your community during this COVID crisis, and being a little bit stoned might help you break the ice.
Experiment With Baking Homemade Edibles
Everyone is getting into making sourdough bread, so you might consider jumping on the baking craze — with a marijuana twist.
Back before the days of dispensaries, potheads had to make their own cannabis sweets and treats, and the art is far from dead.
You can find countless recipes online for basic edibles, like pot brownies, or more complex confections, like weed gummies and hard candies.
You might even experiment with cannabis cooking, which tends to involve infusing cooking oils with weed.
The key to successful edible creation is choosing the right marijuana products to use.
Typically, you want to invest in the most potent strains you can find; because digesting weed isn’t the most reliable uptake method for THC, you tend to experience a delayed and less intense high from edibles than you do from inhaling.
In Oklahoma, marijuana almost always comes in medical-grade strength, but in California, Colorado and other adult-use states, you might need to hunt for high-THC strains.
Social and physical isolation paired with a lack of mental stimulation is a recipe for insanity.
If you want to smoke weed during this crisis, you should give your body and brain something to focus on, so you can still feel connection and success.
