This article was originally published on 2Fast4Buds and appears here with permission.
All weed smokers are familiar with the black gunk that builds up when smoking on a glass rig; The gunk is called reclaim and it’s a resinous residue that’s left behind in your bong or dab rig when smoking flower or concentrates. Most cannabis consumers avoid smoking reclaim but some swear that is super strong, so…What is weed reclaim, and is it safe to smoke it?
1. WHAT IS RECLAIM?
Weed reclaim is the leftover resin that builds up after using your bong or dab rig for a while, this happens because the resin condenses and ends up sticking to your glass rig, and depending on what you smoke (either flower or concentrates), the reclaim will have a dark yellow or brown color.
This is not only because of the initial product you're smoking but also due to the water and high temperatures that it’s exposed to, so even if you are smoking on 6-star concentrates or top-shelf weed, the reclaim will be of a lower quality.
2. RECLAIMED RESIN VS CONCENTRATES
Despite resin being used to refer to both reclaim and rosin, for example, these products are completely different. Rosin, for example, is a concentrated form of the resin naturally found in cannabis, which, after extracted and processed, contain a higher terpene and cannabinoid content than regular cannabis products which results in a more potent effect.
On the other hand, dab reclaim is the leftover resin that results from, for example, smoking rosin; Reclaim resin does not contain any terpenes and does not contain as much cannabinoids as rosin, and it contains harmful carbon byproducts of smoking so it’s not as pure as rosin or other concentrates.
| Chemical Compound | Reclaim | Rosin |
|---|---|---|
| Terpenes | <0.1% | 2.44% |
| THC | 50.2% | 6.99% |
| CBD | 3.3% | 0.2% |
| CBN | 7.5% | 0.06% |
| THCa | 0.2% | 74.51% |
| CBDa | 0.5% | 0.14% |
| Cannabinoid Total | 61.7% | 81.9% |
To give you a better idea of the contents of these types of resin, we've come up with a table with the cannabinoid contents of both reclaim and resin, just have in mind that it's an approximation and the amounts may vary depending on the product.
3. CAN YOU SMOKE RECLAIM?
So basically, you can smoke reclaimed resin but it may end up not being a very nice experience because, as you can see in the table above, it contains cannabinoids but has more CBD than rosin so it may not be the type of effect you were looking for.
Reclaimed resin still has cannabinoids but it contains almost zero terpenes so there will be no smell and in most cases, will have a really bad taste because terpenes are often destroyed during the first burn. Now that you know that you can smoke and get high with reclaim, here comes the most important part; Is it safe to smoke dab reclaim?
4. THE DANGERS OF SMOKING RECLAIM
Unlike good quality rosin and other concentrates, reclaim is not pure resin anymore because it has been burned so it also contains carbon which is a byproduct of smoking, just as ash and tar.
So when smoking reclaim, you can end up having the following harmful side effects:
- Sore throat;
- Difficulty breathing;
- And headache.
Due to these effects, it’s not recommended to smoke cannabis reclaim because it requires a higher heat to burn and it’s also much harsher than rosin, for example, so smoking reclaim may end up irritating your lungs and throat.
Now, it’s rare for these side effects to become grave, most people don’t like smoking reclaim and when they do, it’s once a month so you won’t need to visit a doctor, just have in mind that if you’re experiencing frequent or severe headaches, sore throat or trouble breathing, you should get checked just to make sure you’re okay.
5. HOW TO COLLECT RECLAIM
Reclaim is usually collected when cleaning your bong or dab rig, it’s very simple and there are a couple of ways. In order to get reclaim out of the rig, the first way is to pour the water out of your bong or dab rig and then get the reclaim with your dab tool or any other metal tool, this way may be a bit hard, depending on where the reclaim is because usually, reclaim gets stuck on the bowl or nail but most …