ask Leah ...
ask Leah ...
Missouri Cannabis Education
Flower & Pre-rolls
How to know if you ’ re purchasing high-quality cannabis flower ?
by Leah Maurer , contributing writer
Leah
Leah Maurer , a native Missourian , is now a canna-journalist and activist living in Portland , OR . She is a co-owner of www . TheWeedBlog . com , a top national cannabis news and information publication , where she serves as the Editorial Lead . In 2014 , Leah founded Moms for YES on Measure 91 through grassroots efforts alone , it proved pivotal in the passage of the Measure , successfully legalizing recreational / adult-use cannabis in the OR . Leah is a social justice and cannabis activist at the core and hopes to see an end to the prohibition of cannabis globally .
12 August 2023
With the variety of cannabis products we now have access to through the adult use legalized market in Missouri , one might think it is common sense to choose the right cannabis flower for you when you are shopping at a dispensary . While the other products we can purchase off shelves are more complicated regarding their manufacturing or consumption methods , it is still equally important for consumers to be educated about purchasing cannabis in its raw form .
Even with the innovations in concentrates and edibles and even transdermals and sublinguals in recent years , cannabis flower continues to soar above these other products when it comes to purchases by consumers . In one set of data for the U . S . in 2021 , flower still made up 59 % of total sales , while concentrates and edibles were at 24 % and 11 %, respectively . 1 The data also suggests that flower remains the most popular form of consumption among adultuse consumers , with flower and pre-rolls being customers ’ first and third most-ordered products . For comparison , according to the latest survey results from the Canadian Government , smoking is still the preferred method of consumption for cannabis there as well . Nearly three-quarters of respondents who reported cannabis consumption in the last 12 months reported smoking flower as their favorite . Edibles came in second ( 54 %), with vaping a not-so-close third ( 28 %). 2 So , the data across the board regarding purchase popularity clearly shows the importance
of consumer education regarding cannabis flower .
While raw cannabis flower and pre-rolls differ in packaging , consumption style , and appearance , they both contain raw cannabis flower . They should be researched and scrutinized just as any other cannabis product you may purchase . I will break down the best way to select each of these products below . Obviously , cost , lifestyle , and cannabis strain ( type ) are considerations we all must make in our purchasing decisions . So , I will not focus on either of those points but instead on quality and ethics .
FLOWER
To be clear , cannabis flower comes from the dried flower or “ buds ” of the female cannabis plants . While there are buds that run the length of the female flower , premium buds are the large , fluffy flowers at the top of