- The Best 420 / Easter - Ever?

Hello folks of LB. Hope you are all having the best 420 Easter celebration there's ever been in the history of humankind. I'd like to wish you a Happy Easter or Happy 420 depending on which your religion is.

- Hoarding Weed

I've saved a bit of everything I've bought for a while so I've got loads of different bits to pick my way through over Easter. Added to that I've got extracts, various hash, rosin and all sorts in my stash.

- Kid in a Sweetshop

Basically I'm at a point where I've been ordering more than I actually smoke just because I wanted to try various stuff and I need to use up what I have and stop being Mr Greedy. Not least as I'm skint. I wonder if these two things are connected? It seems I am not fully past the kid in a sweetshop phase of LB membership.

- Fellow Potheads

Anyway I'd like to take a moment to reflect and to say I'm glad I found LB. First off, aside from a few nutters, you're a good bunch and I appreciate the interactions with my fellow potheads here. It's a real release from trudging through the monotonous drudgery of the real world each day. I've had lots of good advice and I've learned a lot. So thanks to the strong community of supportive LB folk.

- LB is a Winner

The obvious core amazing thing on LB though is being able to get decent great value weed delivered to my door. It's a world away from the procedure I used to go through.

- Pleasure from Pain

I only discovered LB while I was injured. That's a whole other story but it wasn't so easy to get about town. I really wanted someone to deliver me some weed so I spent the sofa time searching online until I found this place.

- The LB Feeling

I'm so glad I found LB. The products and service offered here is incredible. Often I order regular retail stuff coincidentally on same day as an LB order and almost every time the LB order beats the retail order to my door by days.

- It Blows My Mind

It's the selection of products that really blows my mind though. This has led me to buy and try all sorts of new stuff leading to my current overstocked situation. Which I'm not moaning about - it's much better than not having enough. As they say: weed will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no weed.

- Selections

Being able to carefully select what I like is such a luxury compared to my old late night scramble for whatever random bits matey had picked up. Yes, there's a lack of orange strains - I believe I've mentioned this before?! But overall there's such a great choice that I (almost) forgive the lack of some basic orange options. Especially nice is being able to order the hashes, extracts, RSO and D9 which are all luxury items to accompany and enhance my regular smoking but I love having them in my stash.

- I Am Lucky

I'm glad they built LB with a community feel too as it's nice to read through the recommendation topics by other people happy to share their thoughts and help guide others towards a great product. I feel lucky to be here.

- Thanks

Anyway I'll wrap up by saying thanks for reading this to anyone who still is. It's hard to imagine it's been informative but if it has that's a win for us all and if not I hope it's been entertaining at least. Thanks people. Enjoy the bank holidays.

- Surely Star Wars Day is the Big One?

For me, my big stoner day is usually Star Wars day on May 5th. It's the perfect day for me to get fully spaced and I fully recommend the experience. This year it's a Sunday before a bank holiday. The perfect year to start.

- 420 Growing

I see that 420 has grown year on year both in scale and culture. Many vendors cite 420 in their names and people are gearing up for it here so I thought it might be fun to explore it as I don't actually know that much about it. Perhaps I could use it as a practice run for May 5th.

- 420 Origin Story

A small amount of 'research' online suggests that it started when a small group of teenagers in California (of course) during the 70s would go in search of a rumoured abandoned cannabis grow after school each day. They'd meet at 4.20pm. I suppose if digital watches had been popular earlier then we might now be calling it 16:20. Anyway 420 became their slang for the weed search and then afterwards for weed in general. I've no idea if they ever found that grow but something else grew from their slang.

- It's Not What You Know But Who

One of the group was friends with someone connected to the band The Grateful Dead. They're a fantastic band of stoners if you've not checked them out; very spangly guitars; Friend of the Devil is a brilliantly written song.

The Grateful Dead followers were referred to as Deadheads and they picked up the 420 slang for weed and spread it amongst other potheads.

It's a beautifully simple origin of something now set solidly in the calendar as a cannabis celebration.

- The First 420

The first 420 celebration was in the early 1990s in - guess where - yup - California. The 20th April has been chosen for 420 as Americans write dates the wrong way round like 4/20.

- Should We Make It British?

I suppose we should really call the British version 204 to be true to ourselves. The rapper Fifty Cent should probably also be called Thirty Seven Pence over here - or I suppose Zero Point Zero Zero Zero Zero Zero Five Eight on LB. This is why no one puts me in charge of anything. Where was I....

- So what's on offer for 420 (UK 204) on LB?

I've noted a few 420 promos launching in the last week or so hence writing this topic.

- Bargain Extracts

First up we have a bargain crumble from Ganja. $45 for 3.5g is a bargain extract. The reviews look good. It looks like a good deal to me. I've never ordered from Ganja so can't comment on them as a vendor.

https://littlebiggy.net/link/7Tfs4u

- Bargain Distillate

Taking 420 very seriously Ganja have another promo live on their distillate. This one must be one of the biggest bargains on LB as they have 10ml for just $45. That's like $4.50 per 1ml for anyone really bad at maths. That's a fantastic deal if the distillate is good and clean. Has anyone ordered this?

https://littlebiggy.net/link/AEgde9

- Bargain Trainwreck Weed

Next up we have a promo from a new vendor looking to make a mark for 420. Herb has some Trainwreck at just $25 per 3.5g. Trainwreck is an old school favourite that crops up in the genetics all sorts of lovely strains. It's a solid choice for a 420 celebration. I've not used Herb before and it's rare that I'll use newer vendors but the bargain is there should you choose it.

https://littlebiggy.net/link/DGnUR8

- Bargain Price Edibles

Following this we have a deal on some brilliantly named edibles from SilentHippoIV. Family High, a play on the popular cartoon name, are currently being sold at $45 for two packs (1200mg) plus a bonus sweet all to set us up for 420. This is another vendor I've not personally used before but the reviews look good. Always do your own due diligence though folks.

https://littlebiggy.net/link/rvuLLx

- Bargain All-in Bundle

And the final deal I've found comes from the lovely folks at Cannabis Cannibals and it's 420 bundles so you've everything you need for your stoner session in one pack. This is the only listing here that's not $45 with the bundles ranging from $80 - $360 with a mix of ready rolls, hash and edibles. Nice work CC.

https://littlebiggy.net/link/Qrmykf

- Get Involved in 420

I'm sure loads more deals will go live after I post this topic and I expect I've missed some out because I'm a lazy stoner. That being so please post links up in the comments to any 420 specific deals that you see to share them with me and the LB community.

- What Are You Doing For 420?

As always thanks for reading my topic, I hope it was informative and if not I hope it was entertaining at least. Please upvote this if you like this content and get involved in the comments as it helps to share it on LB.

Let me know what your plans are for 420 and if you'll be using these deals or buying something special. Thanks LB.

- Mousse Challenge -

When I saw that Green Cat had both the Moroccan La Mousse and the American L.A. Mousse I thought it'd be an interesting comparison to pitch them against each other and see what the differences were.

- Moroccan Roll -

La Mousse:
https://littlebiggy.net/link/3azIcS

We're going to start with the Moroccan La Mousse. This type of hash is super popular these days. I've had it a few times elsewhere and it's usually a mild hash that's very crumbly and dry.

So the first thing with the GC Moroccan La Mousse is that it's not quite like that. It's more solid and it doesn't touch crumble the way I've known La Mousse to usually. It seems oilier too.

- Internet Research -

Yes, I'm using the term 'research' very loosely but looking online there's a few different methods of creating a La Mousse as it's either dry sifted or ice water extracted before being dried and whipped into a crumbly texture. This hash has come out more solid than I've had with previous la mousse. I would be happy to learn more about this from any hash heads out there.

- Smoking La Mousse -

It's a nice hash to smoke with some thick hashy clouds forming on each puff. It's got that traditional Moroccan spiced flavour in there but is a fresher smoke than something like an old rocky. It's smooth to smoke too with no cheese grater throat going on.

As a cheeky daytime hash this is spot on. I'm glad I bought it. In a blind test I'd guess this as a commercial Moroccan hash from that expected spice note, possibly even from the smell of it burning before I even took a drag, but it's still a pretty nice hash with an easy stone that demands little from you.

- From The Land of the Free -

So the big question I had is did the Americans take this hash staple and improve it?

Los Angeles Mousse (L.A. Mousse)
https://littlebiggy.net/link/fBdJSp

I've no idea how Green Cat packed the American L.A. Mousse and got it to me in mostly one piece. Captain Kirk would genuinely have had trouble beaming it somewhere and landing it there in one piece. It is a testament to the care GC must take. It disintegrated as soon as I touched it. Touch crumble is an understatement for this hash. It's more like the consistency of yesterday's sand castle. That does make it awkward to handle but simple to use. I have the Italian Ice variant of the L.A. Mousse.

- Fresh Smelling -

When you roll with it it leaves you with slightly sticky fingers and a very fresh cannabis smell. It's not so much like the spiced piney dry hash smell of the Moroccan La Mousse and has retained more of a fresh floral profile. That doesn't follow through as much on taste as you'd hope but it is there and it's a smooth and fresh hash for sure. I'm enjoying smoking it. I'm getting nice lightly flavoured clouds of smooth fresh smoke. It's not as strong tasting as the Moroccan nor as floral as the smell first teases it might be but I'm enjoying it more I think.

- Power and Strength -

Neither of the hashes are desperately strong for me as you'd expect from a commercial grade. It is probably the Moroccan that wins on both strength and flavour but it leans more on the traditional hash spice taste and heady stone. I think because of that I'm favouring the American version as a daytime puff. There's just something very fresh and clean about smoking it that I seem to enjoy more and it eases into a gentle stone.

- How Does it Compare to a Triple Filtered Hash? -

Banana Runtz Triple Filtered Hash:
https://littlebiggy.net/link/Prui70

Let's chuck a curve ball in and compare both to a triple filter hash also from Green Cat as I happen to have some. I thought that despite it being a bit more expensive that'd it'd be a good fit for this review. I've had a few triple filtered hashes that would have been a decent comparison to the Moroccan La Mousse I have here. However, typically for Green Cat, this 3x filter hash is loads nicer than I expected it to be.

- Mmmmm... Gassy -

This has smells of gassy fresh resin and pleasantly squidges into fluffy pieces as you crumble it. The smell is one I know but I can't place it. I think it might touch on an original kush smell. It's zesty but not my favourite sort of orange. Perhaps it's the banana smell in there. It's nice and fruit-fresh though like an extract smell but not at that hyper strength level.

- Flavour -

Flavour-wise it's well ahead of either Mousse and the same goes for its strength which is an easier stone than smoking weed but still provides a solid hit. The smoke is thick and oily. This hash is much nicer and much fresher than I expected.

Much like the American L.A. Mousse there's a lack of the typical old spiced hash flavour in lieu of something much fresher but with this it's much more so.

- I Am Surprised -

I'm genuinely surprised by this hash. It's not that it's the best hash I've ever had. But it's so much nicer and fresher than any of the triple filters I've had before I'm questioning if they were even genuine. The stone from this too is a decent level and a notch above either Mousse. I actually regret introducing it into this topic and the point I thought I was going to make about it having similar flavour traits to the Moroccan La Mousse has fallen apart instantly. It doesn't in any way.

- So Which La Mousse is Best? -

If I was to buy a Mousse again, of the two here, I'd buy the American L.A.

If flavour and strength were plotted onto a graph this decision may not make sense on paper but I know that given those two I currently reach for the L.A. Maybe it's a novelty value. I expect fans of the original rocky / soap strains will like the old spice of the Moroccan and tell me how wrong I am.

- However -

Where my hash money will actually be going is on the triple filtered banana runtz as it's a really bloody nice hash and has completely surprised me. I want more of it. It costs more than the Mousse but is worth it.

- Thanks -

As always thanks for reading my topic. I hope it was informative and if not I hope it was entertaining at least. Please get involved in the comments and upvote the post if you like reading this stuff.

"We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars" (Oscar Wilde)

Something I find oddly reassuring is looking at the items wall. Perhaps it's like gazing up at the stars. Staring into endless infinity of space peppered with the light from stars that spent millions of years travelling before meeting our eyes. It tightly frames our little place in the universe in a reassuringly small but optimistic way.

Looking at the thousand plus products on the LB items wall reassures me similarly that I'm just a tiny part of a massive overall picture and as a result of the scale of it all, I'm unlikely to run out of weed or hash. It's where I find an element of peace of mind in my life. My LB zen.

- Wall Stalker -

I'm often browsing the wall, wondering if certain products or strains are available. I routinely check for orange strains of course and I'm routinely disappointed by the (lack of) results but this isn't yet another orange rant so I won't jump down that rabbit hole.

I also like to check for certain oldies like White Widow or Durban Poison or just cruise around seeing what's what.

I've watched with keen interest as a very small number of products seem to hold the top spot as I routinely hit the items wall.

- First Up -

When I joined it was the static hash listing by Real D in our consistent top spot. I've not had this hash yet but nearly bought it a couple of times when they had an offer on. Real D are a solid vendor although I've not ordered there for ages. The hash flavours have changed slightly but I remember the Blue Dream being available and I've always fancied it even when the orange variants are on offer.

https://littlebiggy.net/link/JX9Q0Q

- Another Winner -

I can't remember what exactly replaced Real D but I remember for some time The Spacemen held the top spot with their bargain listing. I've seen all sorts of lovely looking bargain bits fly through that post over time. But again I've not ordered from their top listing although The Spacemen also provide a great service with loads of great quality bits.

https://littlebiggy.net/link/P9pt1M

- Most Recent Top Spot -

It seems there is another consistent winner recently as it's been all about Don Loco and their Top Shelf listing taking the top spot on LB. And once again I can't comment as I've not only not ordered this number one wall product, I've never ordered anything from Don Loco. Although they seem a good sort by reputation and often have bits in that I quite fancy.

https://littlebiggy.net/link/OUvkd2

- Conclusions -

I'm not sure what conclusions to draw from this but it's kind of odd that I've not ordered any top spot product. It's also interesting that they're all multi variant listings that remain in place with just the product details changing. Perhaps the algorithm here loves a long term listing over a freshie. And perhaps we buyers do too as I assume there's some logic to how it all works.

- Top of The Buds -

Have you had any of the top product listings? Do you see the wall like a 'Top of the Buds' kind of pop chart?

Can we get someone to smoke through the top 40 products on a Sunday evening?

Man that's an entertaining show waiting to happen. I'd like to see someone reviewing Don Locos top shelf after 17 other types of bud, 12 different hashes, 7 vape pens and 3 lots of edibles. That's a weekly show we'd all be down with surely.

Cannabis curation is something that interests me greatly since joining LB. Maybe the top ten is more realistic to do?

- Thanks -

As always thanks for reading my topic. I hope it was informative and if not I hope it was entertaining in some way at least. Please get involved in the comments and upvote the topic if you like reading this stuff.

- It Started With Tropicana Cookies -

This story starts with an urge to buy Tropicana Cookies. Finally the relatively new vendor the wizard of Oz had a bud I simply couldn't resist ordering. With close relatives of orange bud via it's Tangie ancestry and Durban poison via the cookies, it seemed it might just sit exactly where I like my flavour profile. Added to the fact I've not had it before, I felt I needed to check it out. It takes a lot to draw me away from my favourite vendors but orange flavourings are like my kryptonite.

- The Wizard of Oz -

Twoz aren't exactly a new looking vendor now with hundreds of positive reviews and a menu with more different options than a subway sandwich but it was only a few months back they were heckling for their first sales. The list of products is growing impressively fast and I suspect they'll be a big go-to vendor on LB if they're not already.

- LB Fans -

They're very involved in the lb community and seem to largely set a good and positive tone with their contributions and interactions. It's the exact sort of level-headed personal quality that makes a vendor appealing to trade with.

- They Have My Order -

So I've put my order in and am now in the waiting phase. We've all been here. Our mind salivating at the potential delivery but simultaneously fearing the worst.

- Fast Delivery... But Not the World's Smartest Postie -

I didn't wait long. Delivered in one day. The postie left it outside so I can't tell you the exact time but it was within 24 hours. If there's a single occupation where you'd expect an employee to almost instinctively understand that something smaller than a letterbox can easily be posted, it'd be a postman. On this occasion it'd seem their spatial analysis failed them. Stealth was all good without detailing it for obvious reasons. Aside from the postman's decision making process, this is all going well so far.

- Unboxing -

That moment has arrived. We all love it. We all live it. Time to open my parcel. Will my dreams be met or my nightmare realised?

Upon opening the bag I have my order plus I have a free mystery gram folks. This topic was meant to be me reviewing the Tropicana Cookies but that's been pushed to one side and Scooby Do mode has been engaged. I have a mystery to solve here people. We could be going to a creepy abandoned fun fair. I don't know where the clues will lead but let's get this solved first.

- Mystery Bag -

The mystery bag is two small half g buds. One of them looks like it's got the foxtail trait. Both are compact and glistening. Cutting the vacuum bag open I'm immediately getting orange vibes. Twoz ran a post looking for sensible suggestions a while back. I flippantly suggested free orange bud with every order because I'm a stoner and I don't do sensible stuff that often. I'm getting a sense of being called out on that here. That's what this smell is. This vendor has been paying close attention. I have a stalker.

- Matching Profiles -

The obvious match from their menu is Miami. But the bud looks more like Neck Bones. That has diesel in its lineage which I think I'd pick out better by smell but the compactness and shape of the bud is a better visual match. As I write this I'm waiting to hear back what it was from Twoz. I'm betting on Miami but I genuinely don't know. It's a really lovely smoke and definitely has an orange twang from somewhere making me feeling confident on my bet but not a hundred percent. Their menu is big now. A lot can be ruled out but there's a few options might catch me out. It is of course an added bonus to my order no matter what it is.

- Lessons from Scooby Do -

I was meant to be writing about the Tropicana Cookies. But if there's one single thing that Scooby Do taught us as kids it's that human beings of any age simply cannot resist a mystery. I'm hoping Twoz reply to my message soon so I can get on with my life.

- Mystery Solved -

The culprit has been unmasked and true to the mystery genre my initial prediction was correct but with enough seeds of doubt cast that it was still a surprise to find out the answer for sure. It is the Miami. Twoz are fantastic at communication fortunately so this didn't drag on like a netflix drama and I knew my answer within the first episode. No cliff hangers. Arguably writing it on the bag with a Sharpie would also have solved this. I had fun though. I hope we all did.

- For the Doubters -

Anyone who doesn't believe this was the exact process here and I've added it for drama please feel free to message Twoz to confirm the story unfolded precisely as above. All my posts are written out as they happen. So what was I actually writing about?

- Finally the Cookies -

Tropicana Cookies. Here we go at last. I really should have started with this. You can smell the heritage in the bag but the Miami has already stolen the orange show.

I can taste the sweet Durban nature of the cookies and it's a nice smoke, with thick clouds and hints of old flavours. It's got a zest of old orange thickening up the sweetened cookie smoke with a citrus note which is a lovely mix. It's not drippingly orange like a mimosa nor as pronounced as the Miami but the hints are there. I definitely approve of the flavour but it's not on my orange list. It is a nice cookies variant and props up the sweet doughy flavour with a zesty overlay.

- Finally -

The bud I got weighed at 7.2g for a quarter and were all fair sized buds - plus I got a scooby surprise. At $60 a quarter it's hard to fault on quality or service. I expected good things from The Wizard of Oz and I'm glad that expectation was met.

- Thanks -

As always thanks for reading, I hope this topic has been informative and if not I hope it was entertaining in some way. I'm aiming to do a few reviews this month as I bought a few bits and bobs which I thought might be interesting to write up as I unpack them.

If you enjoyed reading this please upvote the post and get involved in the comments as it helps share it with the LB community and I like chatting with you lovely people. Thanks.

- Powerful Tool -

The review system on LB is one of the powerful tools LB gives us consumers. A bad product or vendor has a short life on LB because of the reviews and ratings system as well as being able to create topics like this. Its one of the ways in which vendors are held accountable for their products and services.

- Share Your Experience -

We have the power to share our product knowledge and experience of vendors to help steer other LB purchases. I've seen bad products removed pretty fast off the back of the community response. Equally I've seen people rush to buy vendor products driven by positive content here.

- No Guidelines -

However, there's not a set way to do reviews so we all make it up as we go along. This leaves a mixed quality and lots of discussions around what is correct.

I review the overall deal - product, value, stealth & service. I'm likely to give a ten assuming everything went well and the weed matches the photo and description as well as being good value for the price paid. I start dropping points off for poor quality, delays, mistakes etc.

How do you do yours?

- We Have a Voice -

Looking at new vendors as a way of estimating review rates, it looks like a fairly small number of people write reviews - maybe 25%. I'd be interested if anyone has any accurate numbers around this in case I've got it completely wrong. It's a shame though as in many aspects of life we don't have a voice. We do here.

- Mixed Quality -

While many reviews here are great and contribute to the lb community, there's some reviews which are not nearly as useful.

This is a discussion so please chime in if you believe I'm wrong about any of these or have something to add. I have rewritten the below reviews as examples of the bad review genre so as not to directly quote anyone's actual review. It's not a witch hunt. This isn't aimed at anyone personally but is a discussion about writing reviews that will benefit everyone.

- Review Examples That Could Improve -

Top of the list of course is:
"I haven't tried it yet. 10/10."

- Unless you're Nostradamus maybe wait til you do try it. It could be an 8 or lower by then. I've had weed that looked and smelled just right from my favourite vendors but was so-so to smoke. I've also had iffy batches of stuff I'd ordered previously. Proof is in the pudding. Also writing a review closes the dispute window so if the product has a problem you'll have to jump through more hoops to open a dispute after reviewing it.

Next are this type:
"Amazing. So stoned. Huge glistening purple buds. Overweight. Pure white smoke. Perfect oil ring. Probably the best weed I've ever had. And they sent me a freebie too. 6/10."

- I get it. You're difficult to please. High standards are good and you want to leave some ranking margin at the top for better stuff. Or maybe there was another issue like stealth or delivery time that you marked down from a ten. It'd be good to the reasoning for marking down here.

The one and done:
"1/10"

- If it's a 1 out of 10 we need to know why, especially on a product page of 10s. What went wrong for you - give us the heads up. Tell us your story.

That's also because of these:
"Terps and stone amazing. Incredible stuff. I'm ordering this again. 1/10"

- Clearly a mistake and likely a mix up on delivery time and rating or fat fingering the zero on a ten. I wonder how many one and done reviews had meant to leave it as a positive.

Expecting miracles:
"Ordered on Christmas eve next day delivery but it took 3 days to arrive. Weed was good though. 2/10"

- Set your expectations to realistic. The only person who delivers that fast at Christmas is Santa. And then only if you've been good. Have you? I fully understand the disappointment. Rolling papers at the ready and the postman walks straight past to your neighbours. We've all been there. At time of writing this, I am there now. But before you leave a low score do question, was this the vendors fault, or royal mail.

New vendor first reviews:
"Great. 7/10"

- You're the bold adventurer to roll the dice and place an order with a new vendor and we need to know more about how they operate. Stealth, delivery, product, communication. How did they do? Should we all drop everything and order here immediately? Spending a few mins here helps out the buyers and the vendor. Often new vendors have some great bargains but do we want to risk it - you know the answers.

On a multi product listing:
"It was amazing. 10/10"

- Which of the options did you buy? Often naming the product is unnecessary but on multi product or multi variant listings it's a useful habit that helps us know which are the good options and which to avoid - rather than blanketing multiple differing products with the same rating. Your 10/10 may have sold out days ago.

- My Ideal Review -

"[Product name] was a great example of the strain with strong [flavour] taste and strength. Big nugs. Perfectly cured. Thoughtful stealth and fast delivery. Vendor is awesome, I order here all the time. 10/10"

- Here we're ticking off the key points that make us trust the product listing and the vendor. Equally, if any of these points fall short then flag it up to the LB community. There's a thousand products here so give us a steer. If you read reviews to inform your own choices then please equally contribute by reviewing the products you buy. Your opinion counts.

- Negative Reviews -

Of course not all reviews are positive and where the value, weed, vendor, service or stealth is not up to scratch, that's the point where constructively explaining that to your fellow buyers in the reviews helps the whole community.

Negative reviews can have a powerful impact and help us make good choices about where to spend our coins. Give the vendors a chance to achieve their ten but if they're not up to the job in hand or you've had a terrible experience then sharing it helps us all.

- We Are Lucky -

Basically we're a bunch of lucky folk buying great quality cannabis products at decent prices with our payments protected by escrow.

Spending a few mins and doing our bit on the reviews helps the community thrive and the good products fly - as does creating or interacting with topics and recommendations. Equally steering us around poor service helps us avoid the problems you have had. It's these things that make LB more than just a marketplace but make it our community.

- Thanks -

As always thanks for reading my topic. I hope it was informative and if not I hope it was entertaining in some way. Please upvote this topic if you like reading this stuff as it really helps to share it and get involved in the comments to let us know how you do your reviews.

The Beginning

When I started smoking pot, the UK options were various types of commercial hash or basic landrace weeds.

The mainstay hash was usually a Rocky which I believe was nicknamed from Moroccan and was a heat n crumble hash. Often we'd get a Slate which as per the name came in thin slabs which fluffed up when heated and crumbled - anyone know what the origin of that was? Squidgy Black of various but often low grades would often be available. We'd usually get red seal but gold seal and other stamps did turn up. It'd roll into snakes. Plus we'd get other basic, and often poor quality, hashes with some variations like soap bar or double zero. Often you'd find hash cut with something unpleasant like henna or plastic. Although equally you'd sometimes get a lovely treat like a temple ball.

Weed tended to be Thai sticks or similar dry stuff with more seeds and sticks in it than weed. I'd hear about sensimelia but I didn't ever see any in my town. It was all pretty basic.

This was universally true across life in that period. Channel 4 was brand new and edgy and digital watches still seemed like a pretty neat idea. It was a simpler time. You couldn't even buy fancy long rizla at Tesco.

Original 90s Hash

Honestly, if you bought the cheapest rock solid hash on LB, wrapped it in plastic, smashed it up with a hammer, then stuck it back together so the plastic was on the inside, you'd be a long way towards creating an authentic 90s hash. I don't recommend it but the option is there if you'd like to experience it. I'm hoping some old stoners will confirm to the younglings that I'm not making this up.

The Dam

During my first trip to Amsterdam my eyes were opened to a new world of cannabis. Which was ironic considering they were half shut for much of the trip. I think many of us brought back a piece of Dam with us (quite literally in my case) and the sharing of those experiences seemed to progress everything forwards. We wanted to be more Dutch.

I loved the weed out there of course but it was more than that. It was the open and tolerant culture that allowed it all to happen that really hit home for me.

Slow Progress

Although the four channel options on TV and digital watches seeming a pretty neat idea persisted for some time, we gradually got better at growing weed here until we reach the point today where we're comparable to much of the rest of the world - and now smart watches seem like a pretty neat idea instead of the digital ones.

In between then and now I've had a wide range of oddly grown weed and lack of flavours. Even as we made a bit of progression, for long periods, everyone would seem to have the same grow.

It'd be cheese, then blue cheese, with lemon haze phases, then stardawg. Variety, as a concept, seemed to take a while to bed in. There were of course highlights and exceptions but the mainstay weed was very samey for years - at least locally - and definitely below the quality and variety abroad. This period developed my loathing of lemon haze. I've simply had it one too many times.

LB Quality

Now, all these years later, I'm ordering high quality buds delivered to my door from a menu of a thousand products. The difference in the cannabis now to then is almost immeasurable.

We've got strong, tasty and exotic weed with new strains on a regular basis. We've got fresh frozen hashes and powerful extracts. We've got vapes and dab pens. We have clean D9 edibles and decarb products. It's a golden age of cannabis consumption with a bigger crowd of us than ever before. I'm excited by it - by all you loons in the LB community.

While attitudes have certainly progressed, we're still a wee bit behind when compared to the tolerant attitude to cannabis use we're seeing in the US and parts of Europe.

Channel 4 Cannabis Night

The afore mentioned Channel 4 once did a cannabis night back when they were still keen to be edgy. All night they showed a stream of cannabis TV shows which sent shockwaves through the mainstream UK of the time but was of course dynamite viewing for my generation. It felt like part of a culture shift. A line in the sand between the stagnant and repressed old folks versus the new, dynamic and hedonistic youth.

In one of the programmes it showed how a legal cannabis future might look. I remember that it showed designer prerolls in professional looking cigarette looking packets. Funnily enough even our cigarette packets don't look like that any more! It'd be an interesting clip to watch again actually.

As a 80s/90s stoner I don't think I'd have predicted how the cannabis market looks now. Firstly the sweetshop flavour names and youth-styled graphics on the packs are a naming convention and style that's a world beyond stuff like skunk and white widow. But also the products available expanded far further than I could ever have imagined. It all leaves me as wide eyed as Charlie was stepping foot into the chocolate factory.

I don't know where we go from here but it'll be fun to find out. I hope the UK will ultimately find a more tolerant and legal status for our favourite plant just like many of our friends abroad have.

Thanks

As always, thanks for reading my topic, I hope it was informative and if not I hope it was entertaining in some way.

I Stole it.

And yes, for the astute Douglas Adams fans, I did steal one of his lines for this piece. Twice in fact - to try and get good value from it. My grandma would be proud.