Joint (cannabis)

A spliff was, originally, a Jamaican term for a large cone-shaped smoking device carved of wood and packed full of cannabis (possibly mixed with tobacco leaf ^{[citation needed]}). Eventually rolling papers replaced the solid cone in the developed world but remains in the developing world. Outside of Jamaica, the word has diverse meanings. The cannabis cigarettes are now more often referred to as joints.

Joint is slang for a cigarette rolled with cannabis, sometimes including tobacco or other substances. Joints come in a variety of shapes and sizes, and have plenty of slang synonyms, including spliffs, zoots, doobies, and reefers. In the United Kingdom, the phrase "skinning up" is commonly used to describe the creation of a cannabis or cannabis/tobacco combination cigarette, whereas the term "rolling" or "rolling up" is commonly used in the United States. Occasionally psychotropic agents apart from cannabis or tobacco are consumed in a joint. This includes i.e. Methamphetamine, Opium, PCP, crack cocaine, etc.

Variations and Colloquialisms

There are many variations on the way a joint can be made.

European variations include the "Spanish Crutch" where a ¼ inch (6 mm) of a cigarette is used as the roach/crutch, and the "Flaming Backflip" where the paper is folded inside out before rolling, and carefully rolled with the gum being licked then tucked in first to ensure only one layer of paper is used. Hashish is more common in Europe than in the States, and it is extremely impractical to roll or smoke a hashish joint without another substance (and in practice this is mostly done with tobacco, with non tobacco users rarely smoking joints cpntaining hash, using pipes instead), so this too can affect the way it is consumed. In the United Kingdom and in many parts of Europe, the joint typically comprises a cannabis/tobacco mix and is made from a commercial cigarette paper. Many smokers take great pride in their rolling abillites, so much so it is often a point of contention.

In the U.S., where flowered marijuana is most common, joints are generally made without tobacco or crutches/roach and usually with small rolling papers. Outside the developed world commercial cigarette papers are rarely available and prohibitively expensive when so, resulting in joints made of brown paper or newspaper.

There is a growing contingent of enthusiasts interested in preparing joints of different shapes and sizes, from the famed Camberwell carrot to more esoteric constructions that have a degree of engineering to them, such as the Dutch Tulip.

In the United Kingdom, high potency marijuana when mixed with hashish into a joint is known as a Jesusstick ^{[citation needed]}.

A "wigarette" is a cigarette with a small amount of cannabis rolled inside it. ^{[citation needed]}

A "spliff" is slang Jamaican name for a joint. Or it can refer to a joint that is rolled in a conical shape, Jamaican style.

A "pinner" is a very thin, tightly rolled joint. ^{[citation needed]}

Tobacco debate

Many anti-tobacco smokers see tobacco as unnecessary and harmful to smoke. People who use tobacco claim it helps the joint burn, when loose tobacco acts as "kindling" to ignite the moister and denser cannabis. Tobacco significantly reduces the temperature at which a joint burns ^{[citation needed]}.

"Roach"

The most distinct product of the joint is the roach, or unburnt unconsumed butt end. Roaches are either consumed much in the same way as the rest of the joint, sometimes with the aid of a roach clip, or are saved, usually to be combined with other roaches and rerolled into a composite joint. Sometimes the roaches of these "roach spliffs" will be saved, in order to make what is called a second generation roach joint. This procedure can continue on and on to get 3rd, 4th, and even higher generation roach joints.

Roaches are often seen as unpleasant and it is considered an arduous task to possess and transport a roach, therefore many users simply throw them out. The surefire method to avoid handling roaches is to create a buffer of tobacco at the butt end to ensure all the psychoactive material is combusted.

External links

How to roll a spliff or joint
Another guide on how to roll a joint
[1] - Reggae/Patois Dictionary
Ganjapedia The Cannabis Encyclopedia
Stop Frame Animation of a Spliff YouTube Video Animation