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Nugs, in cannabis culture, are generally considered to be short for the word ‘nugget.” They refer to small, manicured buds from the marijuana flower. A ‘nug’ is a high-quality product and sought after.
Because hemp flower is harvested from the same cannabis plant as marijuana, it is only natural that premium, high-quality smokable hemp flowers are called ‘hemp nugs.’
The difference between hemp nugs and marijuana nugs is the same difference between all hemp and marijuana products. Hemp is not intoxicating, aka psychoactive, but marijuana is.
This is because hemp contains only minuscule amounts of THC, tetrahydrocannabinol, the intoxicating compound in the cannabis plant. Hemp is defined by federal law as the Cannabis sativa plant with less than .3 percent THC.
Marijuana is any Cannabis sativa plant with THC over .3 percent. Although to be fair, most strains of marijuana currently popular contain much higher amounts of THC than just over .3 percent. Most popular marijuana strains contain at least 15 percent THC, and some contain far more than that.
Hemp has only minuscule amounts of THC in it and not enough to make you feel high.
For people who are used to smoking marijuana, the question is often poised if hemp nugs can’t make you high, well why bother smoking them?
The answer is simple. Because of all of the other benefits you get from smoking marijuana — the comfort and familiarity of a smoking ritual, the pleasant taste and aroma, and the relaxing medicinal benefits of the other compounds in the cannabis plant. All of this you can get with smoking hemp nugs. But not high.
Smoking hemp nugs is something you can incorporate into your lifestyle in ways you can’t with marijuana. For instance, a mid-afternoon mental break after a busy day of business meetings with more work to come. When you enjoy family time, or simply want to enjoy the cannabis experience without the intoxicating effects.
Beyond being a safe way to replace marijuana, smoking hemp nugs offer many additional benefits to consider.
Hemp breeders, like our breeding team at Colorado Breeders Depot, have worked hard to select hemp strains low in THC but high in CBD, CBG and the other minor cannabinoids.
Smoking hemp nugs imparts the ultimate experience in experiencing high-CBD (or CBG) cannabis and the many medical benefits that scientists and doctors have discovered in the amazing cannabis plant.
The cannabinoids in the hemp plant react with receptors in our human endocannabinoid system. Our body’s molecular system is responsible for regulating many functions in our body, including sleep, appetite, metabolism, and much more. The cannabinoids produced in the cannabis plant, including hemp, interact and bind with the receptors in our endocannabinoid system, imparting a wide range of effects.
So far, doctors have discovered the non-THC cannabinoids in the hemp plant has positive effects on things like:
However, the medical community was not allowed to study cannabis until hemp was legalized. So, scientists have barely begun researching the incredible cannabis plant and the more than 400 known compounds it produces. We expect to learn of many more amazing benefits from the cannabis plant; the more time we have to study it.
You select quality hemp nugs the same way you choose quality marijuana nugs by purchasing from trusted sources and choosing fresh, colorful and pungent-smelling nugs.
Here are a few useful tips when looking for hemp nugs.
Color
Hemp varietals come in different shades naturally from bright, vibrant green, to an attractive blue-green to purple and even pink. These colors are all acceptable.
What you don’t want are hemp nugs that look brown and dried out. This is a sign of hemp that was not properly cured and was exposed to sunlight, bleaching away the fragrant terpenoids and flavonoids that are a big part of the hemp smoking experience.
Sometimes your hemp nugs will look like they have a lot of little crystals on them, almost ‘frosty.’ This is good!
What you are looking at are trichomes, and there is typically a high concentration of cannabinoids in those oily bubbles. So, if you see a very ‘salty’ hemp nug, go for it. This will likely be an enjoyable experience!
A few seeds won’t make a big difference, but a lot of seeds in your hemp nugs mean your cannabinoid percentages will not be as high as the genetic potential of the plant you are smoking.
Cannabis is a naturally dioecious plant. This means it makes female and male parts. The female ‘flower’ is the part we smoke and when it is developing, it naturally synthesizes the most significant percentage of cannabinoids in the flower.
If those female flowers are exposed to male buds (the cannabis plant is pollinated via wind), then those female flower colas will be fertilized and produce seeds. This lowers the potency of the flower.
A final way to evaluate for high-quality hemp nugs is to check the COA, or certificate of analysis, of each plant before you buy it.
To be legally sold as hemp, growers must test and prove their varietals are indeed hemp and under that magic .3 percent THC limit. Because buyers want to know much more than that, hemp growers also test the percentage of the other cannabinoids. Plus, they test for any harmful products like concentrations of heavy metals in their hemp flower.
Each seller of hemp is legally required to make available the COA on the hemp flower they are selling. Make sure to check out the percentage of CBD and other cannabinoids (like CBG) in the flower you are considering purchasing. Generally speaking, the higher, the better (except of course for THC!).
We hope this information about hemp nugs was helpful. Please come check out our listings at Colorado Breeders Depot for high-quality smokable hemp nugs grown by Colorado’s premier hemp farmers.
