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Dear Stoner: Does the smell of weed smoke disappear more quickly when it’s cold out? I’m always pushing the line.
Almond
Dear Almond: Actually, it disappears faster when it’s warm — but you’re not crazy if you think it’s easier to get away with smoking outside or in a garage when it’s cold out. Odor molecules move more slowly as the air gets colder, so your nose doesn’t pick up as much activity during the winter. (This is also why the smell of garbage or barbecue seems to float through the air so easily in the summer.) On top of that, studies conducted at the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia discovered that olfactory receptors in our nostrils essentially bury themselves deeper when the air gets colder.
So both our noses and the smells they’re looking for are lazier in the winter. Those slow-moving odors can be helpful if you’re trying to blow smoke out the window, but they can also hurt you if there’s nowhere for that burning aroma to go. Don’t get too cocky.
Send questions to marijuana@westword.com.
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