Diamonds Are Forever | High Times

The competitive nature of capitalist cannabis over the past decade has resulted in increased demand for and proliferation of higher potency products. Inevitably, regular users of such cannabis commodities develop higher tolerance, necessitating even more powerful products flooding the marijuana marketplace.

Virtually every week, local dispensaries seem to offer stronger and stronger strains designed to get partakers higher than any kite has ever soared. Chief among those is concentrate-infused cannabis, which greatly increases the potency of the flower, altering what may have originally been 25-to-30% THC, already a respectable number, to a whopping 35-to-45%, and in many instances, resulting in even higher percentages than that.

Cannabis buds have been intentionally infused with OG concentrates such as hash and hash oil for years; however, the legal marketplace has wrought an ever-widening array of sophisticated products ranging from budder and badder, to rosin and shatter. Yet the most potent and promising weed infusion of all may just be THCA liquid diamonds.

THCA Diamonds Are a Stoner’s Best Friend

THCA, tetrahydrocannabinolic acid, is the chemical predecessor to THC, which is the psychoactive cannabinoid that provides the “high” we all know and love. THCA in and of itself is non-psychoactive, meaning it does not actually produce any sort of intoxication due to the fact it fails to bind with CB1 cannabinoid receptors in the human brain. However, after being subjected to heat (such as from a vape pen or lighter), the chemical reaction known as decarboxylation converts THCA to good ol’ THC, achieving percentages as high as an almost-perfect 99.9%, and quite obviously, boosting the consumer’s personal psychoactivity to an even higher plateau.

THCA crystals are produced via a hydrocarbon extraction of cannabinoids from fresh-frozen cannabis. After the cannabinoids have been extracted from the plant material, “diamond mining” machinery utilizes heat and pressure to form THCA crystalline as well as a terpene-rich “sauce”. Raw cannabis flower buds or “shake” are then dipped or sprayed with the liquified diamonds plus the terp sauce, creating a powerful “full-spectrum” end-product of infused cannabis that is then packaged for retail or medicinal sale.

Pros Of Smoking Diamond Laced Dank 

Longer Lasting

An eighth or a pack of pre-rolls infused with THCA diamonds can be generally smoked over a longer duration of time than ordinary cannabis typically would, for both short-term and long-term considerations.

For more immediate concerns, the increased intensity of the concentrate provides a much more sustainable stoned feeling than smoking non-enhanced flower tops.  Instead of being intoxicated for two-to-three hours, that heady high may endure for four-to-six hours.

In the long run, a sack that normally lasts a heavy user two-to-three days could still be filling up your bong after a week.

Additionally, diamond-infused cannabis tends to burn slower, making it more difficult for the flame of your lighter to sufficiently burn the flower, due to the added oil being much stickier and thicker than the much more combustible plant material.

More Bang For Your Buck

At a particular San Francisco-based dispensary, a house brand of THCA diamond infused cannabis has a price-point of $46, which is eleven dollars more expensive than a quad of non-infused, yet still extremely potent, indoor flower from the same brand. However, because it does burn slower and offers even higher potency than the regular indoor weed, the diamond infused weed will last longer for the great majority of users.  Again, it is stonier and more intense, so that will generally translate into less smoking, which could offer added health benefits to many.

Another smoking strategy that can be attempted is to alternate between the diamond-infused stuff and “regular” weed, potentially resulting in a more balanced high, as well as being less harsh on the throat while diminishing dry-mouth and the dreaded “munchies.”

There’s also another savings advantage to purchasing infused loose flower versus diamond infused pre-rolls, which are extremely popular, as exemplified by brands such as Jeeter. However, prepackaged prerolls are also more expensive, as you pay for the convenience.  Rolling your own infused pre-rolls with diamond-infused loose flower will definitely translate into increased personal savings.

Intense High For Intense Priorities 

Whether it’s decompressing after a difficult day at work, trying to write an essay for school, sleeping better, recovering from pain, enjoying a good movie, or any other reason people have for getting high, the more potent the product, the more likely one’s ganja goals will be achieved. If you’re trying to stay up late to get a project done, an infused high-end sativa bag of weed or jar of joints is going to do the trick a lot better than any regular bag of bud. Needless to say, for those using cannabis medicinally, a higher potent product is more than likely to provide quicker pain relief and other healing attributes more profoundly.

Taste Is A Matter Of… Taste 

The previously referenced terpenes found in liquid diamond infusion are the chemical compounds adding to the smell and taste of pot products. And an increasing number of stoners are loving the fruity and spicy flavor enhancements that can convince your tastebuds you are smoking sweet candy or a tropical smoothie instead of ordinary grass.

Cons Of Smoking Diamond Laced Dank 

Harshing Your Buzz 

As expressed by users on chat sites such as Reddit, as well from the author’s extensive personal experience utilizing such products, smoking, or combusting, concentrated cannabis oil products, whether by themselves or added to cannabis flower, tends to result in a “harsher” effect on the throat when inhaling and exhaling the infused smoke. As opposed to vaping concentrates, which tends to be smoother on a user’s throat and lungs because the oil isn’t being combusted, but rather vaporized. The raw, scratchy feeling that can occur in the throat from diamond-infused weed can result both from smoking infused pre-rolls or loose flower in a regular pipe. Using a water pipe (“bong”) could help cool the irritating elements of the infused smoke prior to inhalation.

Counting The Cost 

As previously delineated in the “Pros” section, infused cannabis generally costs more than regular joints or weed. And despite the valid argument that infused pot provides better long-term return on your weed investment, the bottom line is, those who are on extremely strict budgets cannot always afford to pay those higher prices.  And when someone wants to get high at that moment in time, yet they only have so much money, then invariably they’re going to choose the more affordable option, infusion and a better high be damned.

Taste Overload

Those same flavorful terps found in the resin sauce and combined with the THCA can turn off end-users, with some dispensary customers describing it “like smoking incense”. Certain old-school smokers simply don’t care for the spicy, sweet and fruity flavors found in diamond infused bud, and prefer their pot taste more earthy and resinous.

Tolerance Test

Another potential drawback to consuming diamond-infused weed, especially on the regular, is that it can “ruin” regular bud for some smokers by altering their level of tolerance to the point where they no longer enjoy smoking non-infused weed, because they can’t achieve the desired high they seek, compared to the powerful headrush furnished by the infused cannabis.

Not For Everyone

Dank weed dripping with diamonds is generally not recommended for every smoker, due to negative psychological reactions that certain users may experience.  Dispensaries actually issue written and verbal warnings to customers about the potential anxiety-inducing effects of infused cannabis. Due to the extreme elevated amounts of THC, with some of the diamond-laced strains exceeding 50%, infused cannabis should not be used by those prone to feelings of anxiousness or even paranoia should they become “too high”.  Though it should be acknowledged that symptoms of anxiety are quite often signs of clinical depression, whether diagnosed or not.  Those experiencing anxiety or similar negative psychological reactions to cannabis, infused or otherwise, should consider speaking with a licensed professional.

The novice, beginning smoker should likewise avoid indulging in infused weed, at least until they have gained more personal experience and understanding of what it’s like to be stoned, and what their personal level of comfortability is as to how high they care to get.

Conversely, there are some people who don’t necessarily get anxiety, rather, they just don’t like to get that high, either because it makes them lose focus or puts them to sleep too readily.

For those individuals, diamond infused cannabis should also be avoided, especially with the longer duration of a person’s high, due to the increased THC percentage.

Diamonds Are Here To Stay 

Though there is some debate among activists regarding the propriety of cannabis companies unleashing higher and higher potency products into the public marketplace, it’s undeniable that they are here to stay, especially in America’s ultra-competitive capitalist cannabis market.

The demand for higher-percentage products has never been greater, and, as previously noted, with many users’ THC tolerance thresholds being altered, there is little reason to think that the proliferation of infused products, like cannabis with THCA liquid diamonds, will be slowed down to any significant degree anytime soon. This is true, especially with a younger generation that has grown up in a legal cannabis culture where powerful infusion in their tree is the welcomed norm. Diamonds are forever, and also, for a whole lot of fun getting your max buzz on.