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Joint is slang for a cigarette rolled using cannabis. Usually, rolling papers (mostly made by subsidiaries of major tobacco companies) are used in industrialised countries, while in the developing world, brown paper, cigarettes with the tobacco removed, or newspaper2 are often used. Blunt cigar paper is also used to roll marijuana, after the tobacco is discarded. Some papers used for rolling are made of rice paper. Some manufacturers use hemp as an alternative3. One of the newest innovations in joint-rolling technology has been the introduction of transparent cellulose-based rolling papers. For more details see clear rolling papers.
A joint typically contains between 0.5 and 1.0 g of cannabis.4
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Etymology
The word "joint" ultimately comes from French, where it is an adjective meaning "joined" (past participle of the verb joindre) derived from Latin junctus.
By 1821, "joint" had become an Anglo-Irish term for an annexe, or a side-room "joined" to a main room. By 1877, this had developed into U.S. slang for a (usually shady) "place, building, establishment", especially referring to an opium den. By 1935, "joint" was being used to refer to the hypodermic needles used to inject heroin and other drugs; this may have been influenced by the secondary meaning of "joint" in the sense of something done "in common" or shared. Its first usage in the sense of "marijuana cigarette" is dated to 1938. 5
The term spliff, also referring to various styles of marijuana cigarette rolled with tobacco, is of Jamaican English origin, but has spread to western countries, particularly Britain, Europe, Canada and the United States. Its precise etymology is unknown, but it is attested as early as 1936. While Jamaican spliffs are generally conical in shape, those elsewhere tend to be cylindrical and of varying lengths.
Variations
Although all joints contain cannabis, there are regional differences in the way they are prepared. In Europe, and to some extent in Canada, joints (or 'spliffs') are often rolled with a mix of tobacco and cannabis, and typically include a bit of cardboard or business card (known as a Crutch or "roach" in some parts of Europe, a "cardy" in New Zealand, a "filter" in Canada, and a "tip" in the Netherlands) in one end to serve as a sort of mouthpiece.
The North American joint is typically rolled with only cannabis and no tobacco or cardboard, and the "roach" refers to the tiny stub remaining once the joint has burned down, equivalent to a cigarette butt, except that it can also be smoked. Collecting joint roaches is common, as they can be smoked in a pipe or water pipe. These "roach bowls" are more potent than normal marijuana due to the collected residue on the cannabis.
Some smokers prefer to use menthol tobacco in combination with cannabis.
Blunts
A newer practice, most commonly found in areas such as the New York City, American South, The Bay Area, and other urban areas is the "blunt". A cheap cigar is unrolled, and all or part of the tobacco is removed. The missing tobacco is replaced with marijuana or hashish, and re-rolled.
Smoking
Usally a person will make a cannabis cigarette 'Joint' or 'Spliff' and can be shared but also smoked like a cigarette
See also
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Footnotes
- ^ Australian Government Department of Health: National Cannabis Strategy Consultation Paper, page 4. "Cannabis has been described as a 'Trojan Horse' for nicotine addiction, given the usual method of mixing cannabis with tobacco when preparing marijuana for administration."
- ^ e.g., in Jamaica: The Rastafarians by Leonard E. Barrett p. 130.
- ^ Roll Your Own Magazine, Winter-Spring 2008
- ^ World Health Organization: Division of Mental Health and Prevention of Substance Abuse (1997). Cannabis: a health perspective and research agenda. p. 11. WHO/MSA/PSA/97.4, http://whqlibdoc.who.int/hq/1997/WHO_MSA_PSA_97.4.pdf.
- ^ Online Etymological Dictionary
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