What Does Marijuana Smell Like? The Differences

by | Last updated Mar 9, 2023

Are you thinking about smoking marijuana? Maybe you are afraid that the stench of it will stink up your house? You could also be thinking about eating it, and are wondering whether cooking it has a strong smell? What about vaping THC? Don’t worry! We will go over absolutely everything you need to know about the different smells of marijuana.

By the end of this article, you should be able to pick which option you will end up choosing. Marijuana is a fun way to pass the time with your friends or to relax after a long day of work. Smoking cannabis has other functions too such as helping with epilepsy, nausea, seizures, muscle spasms, and much more.

What Does Marijuana Smell Like? The Differences

For whatever reason, you are curious about what it smells like and I am here to help you with that. This article will look at all the different smells marijuana has. We will look at what smells can come from smoking weed as well as eating marijuana or drinking it. Also the smell of vaping CBD, THC and what’s looks like.

Marijuana Types explained

For those of you who are brand new and are curious but do not actually know what it is, let me explain. Marijuana comes from the flower Cannabis Sativa. It is green and colour and has a very strong smell. It is hard to miss someone walking past you and smoking weed as it has a very distinct smell.

There are many variants of weed, but they are mainly divided into three categories:

  • Sativa
  • Indica
  • Hybrid

Each one has a different effect on the person consuming it. With Sativa, you feel much more energized, and so it would usually be taken when you are out socializing and want a bit more energy for the night. It also makes you feel happier and just gives you that boost for the day or night.

Indica is much more relaxed. If you want to sleep better at night or just want to relax after a long day at work, Indica cannabis is the best for this. It will make you feel as if you have been sedated. Very relaxed and sleepy. This one should not be taken when you are about to go out, you will feel like a zombie and need to go home to sleep.

Hybrid is a combination of both Sativa and Indica. It has the perfect balance of the two together. Another important factor to look at when purchasing marijuana is the level of THC or CBD in it. THC is usually much stronger than CBD. It gives off a bigger high as well as being used for more serious health conditions. CBD is a lighter chemical that gives off the feeling of relaxation. It is not intense and therefore mainly used for anxiety or stress relief.

Do not worry if you have never heard of Sativa, Indica, or Hybrid. Each category has its own fancy names for particular marijuana, and these you have definitely heard of. Let’s have a look.

Sativa

As mentioned earlier, this type of marijuana helps in making you feel happy and energised. This would be mainly consumed during the day, as it does not affect you badly, in the sense that you will fall asleep. It helps you stay concentrated and feel up-beat for longer. Some common types of Sativa marijuana include:

  • Amnesia Haze
  • Super Lemon Haze
  • Strawberry Cough

Indica

With this type of cannabis, you are much sleepier. It helps with sleeping better and feeling so relaxed that you literally do not want to move from your couch. It has an effect on your whole body where you just feel weak and very lazy.

Not recommended if going out for the day or going to a party. You will be a party popper sitting in the corner fighting to stay awake! Some types of Indica marijuana include:

  • Blue Cheese
  • Purple Punch
  • Northern Lights

Hybrid

With this type, since it is a combination of Indica and Sativa, it is hard to tell what effect it will have on you. It really does depend on what it is originating more from, either one or the other. You will have one of the above effects depending on which it contains more of. You could feel happy, tired, relaxed, energised, or lazy. Some type of Hybrid marijuana include:

  • Pineapple Express
  • Blue Dream
  • White Widow

Now that you know a bit more about weed and the types there are, let’s have a look at how marijuana can be consumed and what smell each gives off.

Smoking Marijuana Smell

The smell of marijuana will be highly dependent on how old it is. Older plants will be much more smelly and much stronger when smoked, which means you will feel the full effect of the cannabis. If the plant is younger, the effect will not be as strong, and the smell will be less potent.

The smell of cannabis is usually quite herbal. Extraordinarily strong herbal smell. Put it simply, it can stink up your whole room just from a small amount laying on your side table. The same goes if you have a baggy in your jeans pocket, your jeans will stink!

It is best to keep weed in an airtight mason jar to contain the smell, especially if you do not want people to know you have started smoking it. Sometimes the weed can have various added smells such as a lemony stench. It depends on the type of weed you purchase.

When smoking marijuana, it will fill up the whole room, if not the whole house. It has a skunk-like smell to it. If you are mixing it with tobacco, there will be a mixture of tobacco smell and the skunk-like smell. It really sticks to your body when smoking, as in your hair and clothes. It is quite hard to get rid of the smell of weed from yourself and your house.

If you are trying to hide marijuana smoking smell, I suggest you get some eye drops, as your eyes will go red! It is hard to explain for definite how weed smells when smoked, as different people have various opinions, especially because all different type of cannabis do have particular smells to them.

Some of the smells people have compared the smell of marijuana smoking to include the following:

  • Thyme
  • Mangos
  • Citrus
  • Pepper
  • Rosemary
  • Pine
  • Cloves
  • Lavender
  • Beer

Smoking marijuana is a very distinct smell, and you cannot miss it. If you plan on purchasing some cannabis make sure to ask the person you are buying it from what the name is, what kind of smell it is and which family it comes from. That should give you an idea of what to expect.

Eating Marijuana Smell

There are several ways of eating, and even drinking marijuana. Some of the most common types include:

  • Edibles in the form of brownies, gummies, and even chocolate
  • Tinctures are an edible liquid that you place a drop of on your tongue
  • Cannabis oil
  • Drinks such as sodas can contain weed in them also

To be honest, if you use a small amount of weed in baking your own brownies, no one is going to know that they are weed brownies until they actually taste them. There is no real smell from cooking or baking it until you eat it and feel a hint of something odd.

The only reason why you would get a smell of cannabis in your kitchen is purely from having it laying on your kitchen counter before you put it into your brownie mix. It is not as potent when cooked. Cooking oil would not give off a huge smell either. The soda if brought up to your nose can give off a smell and you will definitely taste it when drinking it.

The reason why edibles don’t give off too much of a smell is because the food is too overpowering itself to allow for the cannabis smell to come out. If you are eating or drinking it, please make sure you check the levels of THC and CBD in it before consuming. If you are making it yourself, do not each too much all in the one go as there are side effects to this. You can become paranoid, “go green” which means you start feeling sick and your head will start spinning, or you can become anxious.

Vaping Marijuana Smell

Yes, there is a smell when vaping cannabis, but by no means is it as strong as smoking it. The vapes give off a herby smell of cannabis when used. It is not as potent as smoking it with a bong or mixed with tobacco. People will still be able to tell the difference when you are walking past them vaping THC.

To prevent the smell from getting stronger every time you vape, you need to make sure your vape is clean before and after every use. If it is not cleaned, it will have a build-up of the residue and start smelling worse and worse every time you smoke.

Vaping is said to be the better method of smoking cannabis, as well as eating it if measured out properly. Smoking cannabis like a cigarette can be quite damaging to your lungs. Because you are using a vape to smoke cannabis, the actual smoke disappears quite quickly which means the smell does not linger, unlike smoking a joint which takes forever to leave the room.

With vaping, you do not need to worry about the smell sticking to your clothes because it is evaporated so quickly. The only time you will get a strong smell is when you just open up the bag of weed and are preparing it for the vape. It will stick to your fingers and the smell will linger that way. The smell will be the same as noted above, strong herby and skunk type of smell.

If you are using cannabis oil in the vape, you are in luck as this gives off no smell at all. You will not need to worry about vaping in public or around your friends. No one will ever know that you are using it at all. It will also not stick to your hair or clothes. It is evaporated in the vape and only air comes out, but you still get a nice high from vaping the oil.

Smoking vs. Eating vs. Vaping Marijuana: Which Is Better?

Putting it simply, it depends on you! If you do not care about hiding the fact you use cannabis, you may as well smoke it and get the full impact of it. Beware of the stench as it will be strong, unfortunately. This is the best way to get the full impact of the high you are looking for. When compare eating vs. smoking marijuana or vaping, The smells vary depending on the weed type as mentioned earlier.

Eating it will not smell when you are consuming it, but it will when you are preparing the food. You cannot get away from this, as weed is potent. When vaping actual ground up weed, it will definitely give off a smell but not as bad as smoking. Vaping CBD or THC oil is the best as it gives off no smell. This is ideal when you are out in public and want to hide the fact you smoke it.

There are multiple choices for whatever your tastebuds fancy and many different smells to choose from. May as well try a few and pick your favourite!

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