By Ashley Keenan

Not sharing is caring - meet your new stoner mantra during the COVID19 global pandemic. This can feel like a particularly daunting time for cannabis enthusiasts, we are nothing if not a social bunch. Sharing weed, stories, laughter, and community is ingrained in the very foundation of cannabis culture. Unfortunately, there is one thing we do not want to share - germs, which has forced cannabis consumers to change the way they approach the plant, at least temporarily. 

Practice safe sesh

Puff puff, don’t pass? That’s the safest way to flatten the curve of spreading harmful bacteria, viruses, and other germs. While any good circle will have a ‘no sharing when sick’ policy there aren’t always symptoms evident when a person is ill. In the time of coronavirus, it is especially pertinent that consumers aren’t sharing illnesses they might not know they have. 

Keep your saliva to yourself - don’t lick rolling papers, don’t christen the joint, in fact, you should probably stop sharing joints altogether. Practicing safe sesh means that you can roll a fat blunt, as long as it’s for personal use only. Alternatively, bring back the pinner! I adore small, single-serving joints and always turn to them in times of sickness or sparse supply.

If you are sharing glassware or anything with a mouthpiece, make sure to sanitize it after every use with 91% isopropyl alcohol. There are non-combustion alternatives to sharing dried flower that will still foster the feeling of sharing without the risk. Try making single-serving edibles, or sublingual products like oil sprays. 

It might be time to switch to vaping or edibles

Smoking might pose an unnecessary added risk right now, as the COVID virus affects the respiratory tract. Combusting cannabis can irritate the lungs, increase cough, and lead to shortness of breath. Basically, smoking burns off the cilia in the lungs, which are vital for moving viral particles, bacteria and mucus out of the lungs. 

“If cilia are absent or not functional, the mucus will pool in the airways, giving SARS-CoV-2 a chance to make contact with and infect pulmonary epithelial cells,” said Dr. Laura Crotty Alexander, a pulmonary critical care physician to Leafly Canada. “Because this is a novel pathogen, we are working with very little hard data, but it is widely thought that smoke inhalation in general is a risk factor for more severe COVID-19 infection,” she concluded. 

Maintaining Community

Interaction is vital for our mental and physical wellbeing, even in a time of social distancing there is incredible strength in these community bonds. We might not be able to share cannabis in the traditional sense but that won’t stop cannabis consumers from taking a new approach to sesh circles. In-person smoke sessions are still possible, there is no reason we can’t all smoke our own in a group at a responsible social distance. For our isolated and quarantine crew ‘cyber sesh circles’ are where it’s at - where friends and colleagues can use video chat to share a cannabis break long distance. Technology gives us the ability to maintain that sense of community virtually by joining events online, live stream fitness classes, and invite your friends to join you in a cyber sesh circle.