A Simple Formula: How to
Inhale Weed for 95% THC
If you don’t know how to inhale weed properly you are in for a treat today!
Inhaling marijuana correctly will give you the maximum THC benefits for body and mind (think waves of soothing muscle and mind relief).
On the other hand, inhaling wrong can lead to coughing fits, or even worse, wasted cannabis with zero mind and body benefits!
This guide teaches inhaling weed for total beginners by following the steps below.
Simple Formula: Inhale the smoke into your mouth first and then move the smoke from your mouth into your lungs deeply for 1-2 seconds and exhale. (I show you how to practice this trick with no smoke below)
Make sure to check out our guides on how to get higher off weed or healthiest way to smoke weed as they both go hand and hand with inhaling cannabis.
The 3 Simple Steps for Inhaling Smoke Correctly
“When you inhale marijuana correctly into the lungs the circulatory system carries THC molecules to every tissue in the body including the brain”
When inhaling marijuana it’s easier to break the process into three steps
1 – Inhale into the mouth
2 – Move smoke into the lungs
3 – Exhale smoke completely
A common mistake is inhaling into the mouth (Step 1) but not moving the smoke into the lungs (Step 2).
Inhaling smoke into the mouth is not a complete inhale and is a common mistake that prevents THC absorption.
A complete inhale of marijuana looks like this :
I was taught two simple breathing exercises that will help you know 100% how it feels to move smoke into the mouth and lungs.
That way you know you are inhaling weed properly.
So let’s get to it!
Step 1 - How to Draw Smoke Into the Mouth
The first step for inhaling marijuana is drawing the smoke into the mouth.
Try this simple exercise that will help you clearly understand how the draw smoke step should feel.
Exercise 1: Practice Inhaling In Mouth (without smoke)
1 – Pretend you have a whistle in your mouth
2 – Blow into this imaginary whistle (medium strength)
3 – Keep blowing into this imaginary whistle and now reverse the flow of air you will feel air flowing into your mouth only
Congratulations! This is exactly how you inhale weed into the mouth first.
Click here to skip to step 2 to move this smoke into your lungs or keep reading for a more detailed explanation of this section.
If you are inhaling from a blunt, joint, or chillum: you light the end of the rolled paper or pipe and puff slightly to spark a cherry (the cannabis at the end of your blunt, joint, or chillum turns an ember orange). Then you inhale using the reverse whistle method taught above. When you do this the cherry glows as smoke fills your mouth.
If you are inhaling from a bong or weed pipe: you light the marijuana in the bowl and puff slightly to spark a cherry (the cannabis in the bowl of your pipe or bong turns an ember orange). Then you inhale using the reverse whistle method taught above. When you do the cherry glows as smoke fills inside of your bong/pipe. You then remove the carb cap and the smoke moves from the device into your mouth. (warning the hits are much stronger here)
Step 2 - Moving the THC smoke from mouth to lungs
Once the smoke is in your mouth the next step is to move the smoke from the mouth into your lungs.
An important note: step 2 is not a separate inhale, the smoke moves from the mouth to the lungs in one natural movement, so think of steps 1 and 2 as the entire inhale process.
Try this simple exercise to understand how to switch your inhale so the smoke moves from the mouth to the lungs
Exercise 2: Practice Inhaling Into Lungs (without smoke)
1 – Continue the reverse whistle exercise from above where you are drawing air into your mouth.
2 – Now it’s time to move the air from your mouth into your lungs. Focus on pushing the air deep into your chest and how this feels is your upper chest begins to expand upwards as your lungs fill with air.
3 – Let the smoke fill your lungs for about 1-2 seconds.
Congratulations! You just completed a full inhale of marijuana smoke!
Pro-Tip: Coughing fits and lung aches are common issues when inhaling pot, but can be prevented in the next section below.
Step 3 - How to exhale weed smoke to prevent coughing
The most overlooked step of inhaling marijuana is actually the exhale.
You want to exhale fully to prevent any smoke left in your lungs as this will lead to coughing fits and aching lungs.
How to exhale weed: The easiest rule to remember here is to watch the smoke as you exhale. Make sure to continue your exhale until you see no more visible smoke coming out of your mouth.
It’s really as easy as that! This will help make sure you don’t cough.
The more you can increase the quality of your inhale the better your lungs will absorb THC.
Keep reading as we share more tips and tricks to improve the quality of your inhale so you can get high off less, saving you money and cannabis.
Tips for Inhaling
Weed for Beginners
Even with the steps above, you may still encounter issues when inhaling cannabis.
So our team rounded up more tips to help you improve the quality of your inhales.
Tip #1 - It's Much Easier to Inhale Smaller Hits of THC
It’s easier to inhale weed correctly if you start with smaller hits.
The reason why is simply: breath management. Take a look at some of the benefits of inhaling smaller amounts of weed:
Benefit 1 – The smaller amount of cannabis hits you take the easier it is to control your inhale and exhale. (you won’t run out of breath mid hit)
Benefit 2 – The smaller the hits also help you to not get so high on your first time.
Benefit 3 – Taking smaller inhales of cannabis also makes it much less likely to cough.
Try these smoking methods for a much easier inhaling experience:
1 – Blunts and Joints are great for smaller controlled hits
2 – One hitter and chillums are also great options for smaller inhales of THC.
3 – If you are using a bong/pipe make sure to pack a much smaller hit (quarter bowl or less).
Tip #2 - You don't need to hold the smoke in your lungs
Snoop Dogg is awesome, but he was wrong.
There is no need to hold the smoke in your lungs for longer periods.
1-2 second inhale with a slight hold is more than enough to inhale 95% of the THC.
A clinical trial was held where marijuana smokers were tested for holding the smoke in their lungs.
The duration held was 0 seconds, 10 seconds, and even 20 seconds.
There was little evidence shown that holding the THC smoke in your lungs longer helped to increase the high.
In fact, holding the smoke in your lungs introduced more tar deposit per breath, according to Healthline (Fact medically reviewed by Femi Aremu, PharmD).
So remember, just inhale deeply into your lungs for 1-2 seconds and that is more than enough!
Tip #3 - Try This if You Struggle with Coughing and Asthma
I had a rough time learning how to inhale smoke to the point I gave up smoking many times.
That’s because I suffer from asthma, but after trying tinctures and edibles I just prefer the high from inhaling weed.
So if you struggle with coughing or asthma try switching to these devices.
(Make sure to check out my full guide on how to not cough when smoking weed as well)
Ice Bong: this device allows you to place ice cubes in the neck to cool the smoke down to prevent coughing when you inhale marijuana.
Glycerin Bong: Much like an ice-bong but instead the smoke has to travel through a frozen glycerin tube. This helps to cool the smoke tremendously before it reaches your lungs preventing coughs.
Hammer Bubblers: For beginners, this device is easier to manage, and allows the smoke to travel through a bit of water and bubble filtration which helps filter the smoke and cool it before it reaches your lung giving you a smoother inhale.
Ash Catcher: This is an extra filtration device you can attach to a bong. It adds an extra layer of filtration and helps you to give a double filtration for a much smoother inhale of weed.
What If I Get the Urge to Cough Mid Inhale?
Sometimes when you are inhaling weed you may get the urge to cough.
You want to try to fight this urge as much as possible!
Coughing in the middle of an inhale can be extremely uncomfortable.
You will be surprised that when you get the urge to cough you can, in fact, fight it!
Once you have completely exhaled the smoke you can then cough.
But always try to avoid coughing mid-inhale as this can be much more painful than after you coughed.
Final Thoughts on Learning How to Inhale Weed
Learning how to inhale weed is an investment.
The better you are at inhaling weed then the following also improves:
1 – Learning how to inhale cannabis correctly improves your high.
2 – Learning how to inhale weed correctly helps you save money and cannabis (you can get high off much less).
3 – And finally inhaling marijuana correctly helps you absorb more THC per hit giving you amazing benefits to your health.
Our best advice is to just give it a go! Try our three-step method and from there improve the process however you like.
In the end, only the best way to inhale weed can be the one you custom tailor to your needs.
I have different inhaling methods for different devices and you want to experiment and have fun with it!
