Do you remember the 90s? Back when slackerdom ruled supreme, the internet was still cool, and your favorite bars and coffee shops absolutely reeked of cigarette smoke. Just spending a few minutes in a hip cafe could leave you smelling like stale tobacco for the rest of the day.
Today, cigarettes are on the decline, and very rarely do you see anyone smoking inside—which is great for those of us who don’t want to emanate the aroma of an ashtray. But what about smoking hemp? Does the smell of cannabis/hemp joints stick to fabrics the same way cigarette smoke does?
Does Cannabis Make You Stink?
The cannabis plant is in part known for its signature skunky smell. That earthy odor, with its subtle hints of fresh fruit and gasoline, is instantly recognizable to any avid marijuana enthusiast.
Anecdotally, many people find that cannabis smoke doesn’t cling to clothing or upholstery the way tobacco smoke does. So, If you smoke weed or hemp in your apartment (even if it's regularly) your furniture and clothing typically don’t have that lingering odor you can find in rooms where people have smoked cigarettes.
That being said, any smoke is going to permeate fabrics. So rest assured, if you hotbox your car Jeff Spicoli style, you’re likely going to smell like cannabis until you change clothes and take a shower. However, if you’re concerned about cannabis odor following you around like a dirt cloud in a Peanuts cartoon, there are a few ways to mitigate the smell.
Firstly, avoid small spaces. Smoking in a tiny closed-off room will almost certainly make you make you stink of cannabis. If possible, try to imbibe outside where the open air will help the smoke dissipate quickly before it can stick to your clothes and body. Try not to stand downwind either. Another tip: keep hand sanitizer (very handy) and breath mints on you when you go to smoke. You can use these to help mask the smell on your fingertips and breath—two areas where cannabis smell tends to hang around.
Hemp Vs Marijuana—The Smell Test
What does weed smell like? What does hemp smell like? Can a trained schnoz tell the difference?
Here’s the thing: both marijuana and hemp are essentially the same plant—cannabis. According to the 2018 Farm Bill, a recent piece of legislation that federally legalized hemp, cannabis gets classified as hemp when it contains less than 0.3% THC per dry weight.
THC is only one of the hundreds of different compounds present in the plant, and it has nothing to do with creating cannabis’s unique smell. It’s actually the aromatic molecules called terpenes that give off the recognizable scent of cannabis. Because terpenes can be present in either hemp or marijuana, this classification won’t have any bearing on the smell produced. So even if you’re smoking non-intoxicating hemp, people won’t be able to spot the difference.
Will Vaping Cannabis Make Me Smell Like Weed?
One way to avoid smelling like cannabis is to avoid smoking it all together. But just because you don’t smoke it doesn’t mean you can’t still enjoy the effects. Edibles and tinctures can be good options for some, but inhalation methods are by far the fastest and most efficient way to get cannabinoids into your bloodstream.
Marijuana devices like dry herb vaporizers or vape pens, or hemp products like our innovative CBD delivery device, the elon®, allow you to inhale cannabinoids without actually creating any smoke. Traditional inhalation options like hemp flower joints burn at incredibly hot temperatures—over 600 degrees Fahrenheit. At this heat, the cannabis materials combust, meaning it literally catches fire and turns to ash. When using a vaporizer CBD can be inhaled without any combustion taking place because the CBD vaporization temperature is much lower than the combustion temp. Without combustion, there’s no smoke. And without smoke, there’s no smell!
