They’re functionally the same – smoking plant material in that form factor. But I’ve noticed cigarette smokers tend to hold the cigarette facing out, in between their index and middle finger. Whereas someone smoking a joint would more typically hold it towards their palm, between their thumb and middle or index finger.
Couple of reasons in my experience. Cigarettes have a generous butt, and are pretty structurally sound, which makes them pretty easy to handle that way, and you can ash with a simple flick of your thumb. Joints often have no butt, or just some folded up but of paper or some other dodgy bullshit, so there’s far less to grab onto. They’re also often pretty flimsy, and fall apart easily. So holding them that way gives you better control and is more gentle on the joint.
In my experience joints typically either don’t have a filter or have a handmade filter. They’re delicate, and rolling it between your fingers can open up the end and spill things out. So it’s better to have a more precise grip on them.
Do they? I’ve never held either differently, in the classic cigarette style, and I’d say the same for most smokers I know.
You must have passed on the roach then :P
I roll, so I get first hit.
God bless the dexterous
I am so glad I switched to edibles for weed and quit smoking/vaping nicotine entirely. My room/clothing no longer stink of pot. My hands don’t smell like pot. My breath doesn’t smell like pot.
I get that edibles don’t jive with everyone, but man they work great for me.
Also as many others have already stated it’s mostly just the structural rigidity of the cigarette vs the joint combined with the (still in some places) illegality of the joint that leads to the different holding methods.
Never been a cigarette smoker; but I’ve always preferred to hold joints inward to shield from wind and because the shorter filter/‘tip’ is easier to hold with the tips of your fingers. I also like the knock the ash off the end with my thumb vs flicking the whole joint/smoke to shake it off. Less chance of knocking the cherry off, especially with really finely ground bud.
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Hiding it’s shape.
- If someone can see you but can’t smell it (through a cop car, or nosy neighbour window, for instance).
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Sharing it.
- It’s easier to pass a joint from person to person pinched from the bottom
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Structural Integrity.
- Hand rolled joints with inconsistently ground weed tend to be more fragile, holding by their filter is often safer.
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Smoking all of it
- Weed smokers are more likely to smoke right to the bottom (since it was historically expensive / hard to get). Sometimes a smoker might not even have a filter and literally go til it burns the finger tips, in this scenario they can grip much more finely with a thumb-index pinch.
I really, really, really hope that one day your country - whichever it is but i can assume - finally legalizes it federally. i can’t imagine what kind of fucked up legal shit yall have to deal with these days. Here in Canada, it’s now being seen as one of the best things our government has done recently.
Haha, I’m guessing you didn’t see what instance I’m from, I just remember what it was like pre-legalization.
LMFAO
eltoos up! i’m still figuring all this shit out
oh, there aren’t ninja edits here. so, edited to add the “i’m still…” part
and that part
and this part
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Heat and ashing.
Due how finely shredded and tightly packed tobacco is, there is much less heat (that the inner finger is more sensitive to than finger tips) and easier to control / denser ash with cigarettes. Compounding this, the filter helps with heat and the between finger hold makes it easier to flick the dense ash. Their similar in components, but less so in functionally.
Short filter on a joint is easier to hold with fingertips, whereas big filter on a cigarette can be held easily with fingers.
it’s also why it’s changing now! i don’t know about the US, but here in Canada we sell a lot of pre-rolls. They tend to have longer (paper) filters, and they’re easier to hold like one would a cigarette. most people i see here smoke joints like they would a cigarette now. still looks kinda dainty, though :P
I prefer to smoke in the cigarette style and those long cardboard crutches in pre rolls are so nice. I feel like if I’m using my fingertips I have to be real aware of the cherry but between my fingers it’s out of the way and ready for dramatic gesturing.
to me, it’s one of those by-products of legalization that led to a quality of life improvement for us hoser ents.
Joints are packed/rolled differently than commercial cigarettes. Cigarettes are stiff and tightly packed, they won’t droop at all. Joints are different, at least pre-dispensary days (in the US). They’d be packed by whichever friend liked to do it whether they were good or not. So you’d get varying stiffness in your joints, making it easier to pinch them between the index and thumb rather than gently resting like a cigarette does. Nowadays if it comes from the dispo I can hold it like a cig.
I only hold a joint different than a cigarette when the joint has no crutch and is getting close to the end. Gotta hold it with both hands to not only keep the end open to draw through, but also so I don’t burn myself because it’s so small.
The holding it inward is just an attempt to hide it. Or at least that’s how it started. Maybe some people just learned to do it that way every time.
Anyway, I hold a joint the same as a cigarette.
