Ask a Stoner: I Still Can't Smell After COVID. How Do I Judge Weed?

Westword

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Dear Stoner: I lost my sense of smell and taste from COVID three weeks ago, and it still hasn't returned. How do I inspect my weed now?
Running Blind

Dear Running Blind: Outside of dying, being hooked up to a ventilator, sustaining lung damage or suffering long-term brain fog, losing my sense of smell and taste was my biggest fear after I tested positive for COVID. And I’m not being sarcastic, because loss of those two senses seems to be much more common among millennials than more serious COVID repercussions.

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A woman smells cannabis during a tour of dispensaries in Denver.

Jacqueline Collins

I’d only worried about losing smell and taste in regard to food and drink, though, and never considered how it would affect my cannabis use. Thoughts and prayers to you, my friend, because smelling weed provides limited insight into the high — and, as you note, the nose is our best tool in discerning quality. Assuming your lungs are ready to handle smoke, there are adjustments you can make: First, go shopping with a friend who has weed standards similar to yours, and let them do the sniffing and judging. If you can’t phone a friend, keep shopping at the same store and build up trust with the budtender. Tip the ’tender for helpful info, and the good buds will probably keep coming.

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