Does weed expire?

Does Cannabis Expire?

Cannabis can certainly degrade or go stale, so its effectiveness will fade. The quality and cannabinoid content of cannabis start to decrease significantly after a year. If properly harvested and stored, cannabis can stay fresh and smokable for up to 6 months. However, after the 1-year point, it will not taste as good as it did when it was newly acquired.

Not all forms of cannabis expire at the same time. CBD Tinctures and some oils for instance that are infused with high-proof alcohol can stay fresh for up to ten years.

How You Tell When Your Weed Has Gone Bad

Cannabis is perishable, and depending on the way you store it, its form, and what other ingredients are present, it can go bad sooner rather than later. How can you tell? Use your senses.

Smell: Aging cannabis will not have maintained the same strong distinct scent it did when you first acquired it. Passing the smell test is one of the first signs of degrading cannabis. Although strains of cannabis differ in aroma, there are certain unfamiliar smells, like rotten eggs, that will signal that it has gone bad.

Sight: Give it a close look. If the colours aren’t vivid and instead look washed out, then your cannabis is fading. Sometimes though, the colour can look faded because of trichome coverage. Sometimes those valuable beads of resin covering your weed make the colours look faded, but that certainly does not mean the weed is past its peak. Look closely, to make sure your weed is still in good shape. Also, look closely for mould (a white powdery, or fuzzy spot), because that can make you sick. Even if your stash isn’t that old, it is good to check for mould just to make sure you are storing it properly.

Touch: If your cannabis has become brittle and crumbly, it is likely that it has passed its freshness. It is important to take note of what it felt like when you first acquired it, so you have something to compare to.

Taste: Taste and smell are closely linked. Terpenes and flavonoids provide a unique aroma and flavour to all cannabis strains. If your cannabis has little smell, then it probably has little taste. Also, as terpenes degrade quickly, an old weed may not deliver an entourage effect.

Effects of Expired Cannabis

Although some strains are better suited for relaxing and even helping you to sleep, old weed independent of the strain will make you drowsy. Cannabinoid potency decreases as it ages, in one year, as much as 16% is lost. Over time, THC turns to CBN, a less psychoactive compound that makes you sleepy. You will also notice a significant drop in potency.

How to Properly Store Cannabis

The shelf life of cannabis can be maximized if done properly. The biggest effect on your stash will be light and temperature.

Light and Temperature: The sun’s UV rays have the most effect on the degradation of cannabinoids and terpenes than anything. Keep your cannabis cool, and never store it near appliances that emit heat such as computers or stoves.

Other Factors: Exposure to air and moisture content are also factors that can shorten the life of your stash. Vacuum sealing is optimum, but a jar with a rubber seal is good. Brief moments of air exposure are okay, but you don’t want air leaking into your container, the cannabis will go stale quickly.

It is important to note that although freezing preserves many things longer, this is not true for cannabis. Freezing can cause trichomes to turn brittle and fall off.

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