With greater emphasis being placed on vaporization, there is a danger that the art of rolling a joint will suffer. If you are fairly new to joint rolling, you may not be aware that there are three types:
- Joints
- Spliffs
- Blunts
Each has its own unique charms, but they all have one thing in common: At the end of a smoking session, you will be left with a ‘roach.’
‘Roach’ is a slang term for the end of a smoked joint. At this stage, you have smoked the joint almost to the end, and for most users, the roach is discarded into the nearest bin, or, horrifyingly, tossed on the floor.
As there are higher amounts of resin in a roach, it is practically always brownish. The reason for the coloring is down to the smoke deposits that settle every time the blunt is inhaled. The enhanced resin content also means that if you roll a joint from a roach, you get far higher than you would from a freshly rolled joint, all things being equal.
There is no need to dispose of your roaches. There are now special roach clips made from non-combustible material that allow you to smoke the last piece of the joint without burning your fingers or lips. Alternatively, you can save your roaches to create an extra-strong joint. You can even add a group of roaches to a bowl and enjoy a potent smoke.
As enjoyable as a roach can be, we recommend smoking them sparingly because the added resin could damage your lungs. By adding a roach or two to a fresh joint, you get a slightly greater hit but don’t expose your lungs to as much damage. Aside from the roach clip, there are several other ways to benefit from the extra punch of the resin; here are a few of the best.
10 Ways to Smoke Roaches Aside from Roach Clips
1 – Bowl or Bong
Make sure the air path is open and push the roach straight down into the bowl’s hole. Alternatively, break up the weed in the roach and put it into the bowl. This is often deemed to be a ‘classic’ and ‘dignified’ method of using roaches.
2 – Use a Filter
This is a bit of a cheat tip since it doesn’t involve using a roach. Instead, you can avoid creating roaches by using a filter in your joint. A rolled piece of paper or a charcoal filter enables you to smoke every solitary fraction of a gram.
3 – Keychain
This handy item makes for an excellent roach clip. All you need to do is slide the roach between the rings at an angle down the side. The keyring makes for a perfect handle and enables you to get to the very end of the joint without pain.
4 – Ring Pull from a Can
If you have any soda cans lying around, you’re in luck! You can use the aluminum ring! Simply fold it in half to create pinchers on the end which grabs hold of the roach.
5 – ID Badge Clamp
All you have to do here is remove the clip from the badge and clip the roach on the end. Make sure you clean the badge so it doesn’t smell of weed when you go into work the following day!
6 – Paper Clip
If you have ever watched MacGyver, you will know that a paper clip can be used to create just about anything. However, the hit 80s show, which is now the subject of a modern-day reboot, missed a trick by not showing viewers the best facet of a paper clip. All you have to do is bend it into a roach clip shape.
7 – Tweezers
This is arguably the easiest household item to use as a clip. You can basically pick up the roach and start smoking it.
8 – Bobby Pin
You can use this well-known hair accessory as a replacement roach clip. Slip the roach into the open end of the pin and getting ready to smoke.
9 – Safety Pin
This works similarly to a paper clip. Run the roach through the pin on one side; otherwise, you will be smoking metal. Please be careful and don’t stab yourself in the eye or lips!
10 – Coins
First and foremost, make sure you wash the coins with ethanol before use; you don’t even want to know how many types of bacteria are on coins! Get two clean coins and press the roach between them. Make sure there is only a tiny amount of the roach between the two coins.
Don’t Casually Toss Your Roaches Away
If you are outdoors, please take your roach with you and toss it in the trash or compost if you don’t intend on using it. If you live in a very hot region such as California, tossing your roach on the floor could cause a wildfire! In Australia, cigarette butts were found to be responsible for starting 4% of wildfires on days when the temperature was over 80 degrees Fahrenheit.
Aside from being a potential arsonist, you could also cause severe harm to young children. If you discard your roach near a school or playground, you can bet that a few curious kids will try and smoke it.
While cannabis flower and rolling papers are biodegradable, it still doesn’t mean you can throw roaches on the ground. You introduce toxins into a natural environment, and if your roach ends up in a lake or river, you can guess the level of damage it might do.
In summation, when you are left with the roach of a joint, it doesn’t necessarily mean the weed must go to waste. I have outlined 10 good methods of utilizing a roach that doesn’t involve specialized roach clips. If you smoke outdoors, make sure you correctly dispose of your litter. Otherwise, you could inadvertently start a fire, make a child very ill, or damage nature.