What Is Weed Shatter? What to Know Before You Smoke

The legalization of marijuana is happening in more and more places in the United States. This is making it increasingly easy to purchase very potent cannabis concentrates, such as shatter. This product is growing in popularity among marijuana users. However, before you purchase or order any cannabis product, you need to understand what it is and how it differs from other marijuana products. 

Do you know how to smoke weed shatter? Many cannabis enthusiasts do. Shatter may not be your favorite method of cannabis consumption, but it is a good idea to learn how to drive both manual and automatic transmission vehicles. In the same way, you might want to learn how to consume all and any forms of cannabis, in case you might need or want to one day. 

Types of Cannabis Concentrates 

Marijuana concentrates come in various forms, including:

• Shatter
• Budder
• Wax
• Crumble
• Honeycomb, and others.

When it comes to CBD and THC potency, there is no significant difference between these weed concentrates. All of them provide a long-lasting high, and the only difference is in their form and appearance. Many cannabis users looking for a stronger hit believe that shatter is the future of cannabis. 

Often, shatter is brittle and relatively clear, while weed wax is more solid than liquid and looks like cold coconut oil. What determines the difference in appearance is the arrangement of molecules within the concentrate. 

What Is Weed Shatter?

This is a translucent or transparent cannabis concentrate that looks a lot like a Jolly Rancher or rock candy. It has a glassy appearance and tends to shatter when snapped into two. It is a favorite among dabbing enthusiasts. 

Visually, all cannabis shatters may appear similar. However, the physical characteristics of individual weed shatter products can vary from snap-and-pull, taffy-like quality to extremely brittle. Weed shatter with a higher THC content will have more oil or sap. Shatter with a higher THCA content, on the other hand, will be more brittle and glass-like by comparison. 

Weed concentrate makers produce various kinds of concentrates by soaking weed material in various solvents. These solvents include ice water, butane, high-proof drinking alcohol, isopropyl alcohol, or carbon dioxide. 

These efforts result produce an amber liquid that solidifies into the final product once cooled. This product tends to have the consistency of tiny peanut brittle. The transparent quality of weed shatter will depend on the temperatures applied during the extraction and finishing processes and other factors. 

To make the process more understandable, think of the amber liquid’s molecules as Lego bricks. These bricks, when it comes to shatter, stack up neatly, as if you just built a wall. This neat alignment allows light to pass through, which gives the product a clear and brittle appearance.  

With a THC content of around 80 percent, shatter is legal for recreational use in several states. Users can purchase it or request home delivery from licensed marijuana dispensaries. However, drug officials in many states are still unsure of how to deal with cannabis concentrates. 

Now that you have a better idea of what weed shatter is on a molecular level, you need to learn about other important factors before you try it out. These include:

Difference Between Shatter and Wax

As stated above, the arrangement of molecules within shatter is nice and neat, just like Lego blocks stacked neatly in rows. The arrangement of molecules in wax, on the other hand, is a chaotic mess. It is as if you dumped out your Lego blocks into an untidy pile. Since the arrangement of molecules is so jumbled, weed wax tends to be opaque. 

Nevertheless, weed wax is just as potent as shatter. Just ask Miley Cyrus, who once thought she had a close encounter with a UFO while traveling with a friend through Southern California. Or, as she admitted, maybe it was the wax she purchased beforehand from a guy in a van.

This difference in molecule arrangement within these two types of weed concentrates leads to other differences, such as:

• Shatter is quite finicky and difficult to produce.
• Wax is easier to measure, produce, and handle since it is firm and pliable.
• Shatter tends to last longer and is more stable.
• Wax tends to degrade faster and is less stable.

CBD in Shatter

Weed shatter is most famous for its high THC content. However, you will also find a variety that is very low on THC and high in CBD. Concentrate makers who produce this type of cannabis shatter market it primarily to users who want the potential therapeutic and medical benefits of marijuana without the intoxicating effects.

How to Use Weed Shatter

Like other types of cannabis extracts, consumers often use a dab rig to smoke shatter. This is a special type of bong designed to burn concentrates instead of dried and cured weed. However, unlike the regular bong, it contains a dome and a nail, which are essential for smoking shatter. 

To use it, you first need to heat the nail and then place your weed shatter on the heated nail before covering it with the spherical glass piece or dome. The hot nail will vaporize the shatter, which will turn it into smoke. The purpose of the dome is to keep all the smoke from floating off into space. 

You inhale through the dab rig’s mouth, which draws the vapor through the water chamber and into your lungs. Instead of a dome, some dab rigs feature a carb cap that you place over the hot nail. The carb cap creates a tiny oven that allows users to vaporize the shatter at lower temperatures. Some prefer this method since they believe that it produces a more enjoyable and smoother dabbing experience. 

Other ways to smoke weed shatter include:

• Spliff, blunt, or joint
• Vape pen
• Bong

The Bottom Line

Some cannabis shatter can contain a whopping 80 percent or even higher of THC. That is more than three times the content in some of the strongest traditional marijuana strains. That is a lot of power in a small package. Many users report almost instantaneous effects and intense highs. Therefore, if you are new to cannabis concentrates and are considering trying weed shatter, do not inhale too deeply. Also, you do not want to hold the vapor too long in your lungs. This will prevent you from experiencing a bad trip.