Brands, stop lying to cannabis consumers.
Adam: As a cannabis consumer for over two decades I’ve seen many marketing ploys to attract customers to buy products. From catchy trendy names to fancy colorful packaging, I’ve seen it all. But what really irks me are the liars. Lying to a customer for a buck is the lowest of lows. Which brings me to the pre-roll section of your favorite shop. Hemp Wraps are NOT Blunts.
Jon: For those uninformed, Blunts are a consumer favorite way to smoke. It’s basically a big joint wrapped in a tobacco leaf – be it a Dutch Master, Backwood, Brothers Broadleaf, or Grabba. Not only does tobacco provide an additional head high (especially to those not usually smoking tobacco), but blunts are typically much bigger than your average joint. For a heavy consumer it’s become a preference, and they’re great for group smoking.
A: I’m not sure if people still use a dictionary or know what one is. A dictionary is a book of reference that we used to use to look up the definition of a word. What words mean. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary the definition of a blunt is: “a hollowed-out cigar filled with marijuana.” A cigar is, according to the dictionary: “a small roll of tobacco leaf for smoking.” Where is hemp in all of this? Exactly. Hemp wraps are not blunts. Hemp wraps are hemp wraps. You don’t call joints blunts and you don’t call blunts joints. So why do they call hemp wraps blunts? Buzzwords. People are attracted to trending terms.
J: To be fair, hemp wraps are filling a need on the rec market because due to hasty legislation tobacco can not be paired with cannabis in the legal retail environment. That’s right, they legalized while directly writing out a subset of the market. Seems like a common story with the rush to rec. So while it’s a buzzword, it’s also because those brands can’t legally sell blunts in stores. The trap though…
A: Still, Using buzzwords to attract the pre-educated is not right. And the negative stigma blunt smokers get is appalling. From being ridiculed at seshes, getting told that it’s “unhealthy smoke” to “you are wasting weed rolling it in a blunt.” Throughout history and in most cultures cannabis gets mixed with tobacco and/or herbs. Amsterdam coffee shops offer you a free blend of herbs to mix with cannabis. You can smell the spliffs in the air in Barcelona coffee shops, the Middle East mixes it with hash. USA seems to be the only country that frowns on mixing cannabis with other plants.
J: I think it’s deeper than just cannabis with that though. We know tobacco kills people. I think that’s probably why they wrote the legislation that way. But it does ignore age-old habits. Europeans would never allow this, but the powers that be probably think they’re both protecting consumers and the activists don’t want to be associated with big tobacco – understandably.
A: So why use the term blunt for a “healthier” option? Hemp wrap companies and pre-roll brands need to recognize that they have been lying this whole time and are selling HEMP wraps and not blunts. Here’s an idea, hemp Joints.
J: I don’t know that we can call them joints either though. It’s trying to be a cigar. It’s bigger than your typical joint. Maybe a hemp cannon?
A: According to the dictionary, it defines a joint as “a marijuana cigarette.” Obviously the term marijuana cigarette won’t be accepted by the community even though cigarettes are defined as “a slender roll of cut tobacco enclosed in paper and meant to be smoked; also: a similar roll of another substance (such as marijuana).”
I understand certain words are more appealing than others in terms of marketing and selling but is it right to lie to a consumer and change the definition of what a word means?
J: While that’s kind of arguing semantics, I do see what you’re saying. Rec consumers are looking to fill the gap left by the tobacco ban in the rec market; they’re just a little overzealous right now. They’re discounting the ‘why’ of blunts to fill the markets needs, but as with the rest of the industry there’s still plenty of room for improvement!
A: As a proud blunt smoker who enjoys the mixing of the masculine energy of the tobacco plant with the feminine energy of the cannabis plant, I do not appreciate culture vultures and other brands using the term blunt for there midsy-ass pre-rolls.
J: You’re on the money there. I’d go so far as to say MOST of the available pre-rolls on the market aren’t coming close to providing the optimal experience – this is a lot of times just creating a bigger mess with excess cuttings they’re desperate to monetize.
A: All I’m saying is the next time someone offers you a hit of a blunt make sure it’s a tobacco blunt and if it’s not, kindly correct them and let them know it’s a hemp wrap. They’re not smoking what they think they are. Let’s start spreading correct information and using the proper terms for our community.
J: As with much of the industry – using misnomers isn’t helping any of us. Being accurate in your claims will lead to a healthier and happier industry for us all!
