A guide to pre-rolls.

What counts as a pre-roll

Under California rules, a pre-roll is any combination of flower, shake, leaf or kief rolled in paper. An infused pre-roll is a pre-roll with added cannabis concentrate (other than kief) or other ingredients. Kief is the loose resin glands sifted from the plant, so a kief-dusted joint still counts as a regular pre-roll.

Why infused pre-rolls are stronger

Concentrates are, by definition, cannabis processed to increase potency. A Washington State university review found that retail concentrates commonly test between 60% and 90% THC, compared with roughly 20% for flower. Adding even a little concentrate, such as rosin, live resin or distillate, can raise a joint’s strength well beyond the flower it’s made from.

Infused pre-rolls show their potency in milligrams. The label either gives the total milligrams of THC or the flower’s percentage plus the milligrams of added cannabinoids. Regular pre-rolls show Total THC as a percentage, like flower.

Tips for smoking a pre-roll

• Light the tip evenly while turning the joint, so it burns smoothly.
• Take a small puff, then wait. Inhaled cannabis takes effect within minutes and peaks in about 20–30 minutes.
• With infused pre-rolls, start with even less, and don’t pass one around to people who aren’t expecting the extra strength.
• Smoke only where it’s allowed: not in public places, not where tobacco smoking is banned, and never in a vehicle.

Packaging and storage

Pre-roll tubes and packs are usually child-resistant only until first opened, and say so on the label. Put an unfinished pre-roll back in its tube and store it out of reach of children and pets, somewhere cool and dark so it doesn’t dry out.

Regular pre-rolls count toward the 28.5-gram daily limit for non-concentrated cannabis. The concentrate in infused pre-rolls counts toward the 8-gram concentrate limit.