how long do you hold in smoke?

[walt cunningham]

a long time ago, i heard that you didn't need to hold your hit in for longer than 10 seconds, as it all gets absorbed by then. So for about 20 years, I try and hold in hits for 10 seconds, sometimes longer.
I watched a documentary from the 90's recently, and they said that you only need to hold it in 3-5 seconds, anything after that, your lungs are just absorbing the carcinogens. what threw me off, is they said you dont need to hold it in as long as tobacco, but when i smoked cigarettes, i only held in that smoke for 1-2 seconds. does anyone hold their tobacco hits in longer than that?
i was wondering how long you all hold your hits in for, and if you have heard anything about the length and absorption

 

[CANNATOPIA]

Interesting topic friend. I am curious myself.

 

[blownupboy]

my two cents

my two cents

my understanding is that your lungs work like osmosis.

i figure blood is always pumping through the alveoli and at one moment there is a blood barrier that is saturated with the thc from your lungs and then that blood gets pumping through the arteries and then fresh blood is in the alveoli again with a lower concentration of THC than what is in the lungs so they keep trading up until its a 50/50 concentration. way oversimplified, i know.

what i will tell you from experience is that when i was in college i had a friend bet me i couldn't hold a gravity bong hit for a whole minute... anyhow i did it, and when i exhaled there was almost no smoke, and then i hit the couch for the rest of the day while my friends went on to do stuff outside... so that definitely effected me more..

nowadays i try to hold the smoke in as long as i can which tends to be 5-10 seconds or so. more powerful smoke these days.

 

[B. Friendly]

lately I have been taking smaller tokes off my bong, but holding it in for a count of 10, I still exhale smoke so it cannot all be taken in? I don't know

Kinda in my opinion is better than burning my lungs with a huge toke

My new style

 

[InvisibleEmpire]

ah...something i actually remember!

awhile back i remember reading an article in which it was posted in response to this same question....the bottom line is that the question soon becomes how much THC can the lungs absorb in one hit and how does that equate out into seconds to hold the hit...

i believe the study reported that holding a hit for 5-7 seconds is perfect time in which the lungs absorb as much THC as they can. so no, holding a hit for 10, 15, 20...30 seconds is pointless and the extra 'buzz' you get is because you're friggin' holding your breath and your brain is losing oxygen.

i did a very informal study...lol...i tested it on a bowl/bong/blunt and made myself remember to hold each individual hit for 5-7 seconds then release rather than holding it for 1-3 seconds then exhaling...it's almost a definite i was definitely more high after holding it than i was when i tried it without holding it long...

 

[250wscrogger]

LOL!!!
I always try to tell my dad that there's no need to hold hits longer than 7-10 seconds....but he's old and doesn't listen....insists on holding hits for like 30 seconds....pointless IMO...

 

[RoachClip]

When ever I smoke and take hits I tend to hold it in until my veins show on my forehead and my gf has to slap my face and tell me to breath but my buzz seems to last longer and I end up sitting on the couch or recliner waisted most the times with still a bowl full not even finished & it depends on the strain.

 

[teemu shalanie]

I agree that holding your hits for 10-15- 20 -30 secs is just lack of oxygem to brain,but how about hacking , when you choke does anyone think you get higher ?, I think I heard before that different parts of lungs open up when you cough?

peace TS

 

[B. Friendly]

I agree that holding your hits for 10-15- 20 -30 secs is just lack of oxygem to brain,but how about hacking , when you choke does anyone think you get higher ?, I think I heard before that different parts of lungs open up when you cough?

peace TS

The theory I heard was that because when you cough your lungs open up deeper gettin more smoke in, so that's why you get higher,
more smoke in your blood from your lungs is the theory from a cough expanding your lungs getting smoke to deeper lung.

 

[walt cunningham]

thanks for the replys so far.
when i was younger, i was quite good at holding my breath, and i would also hold it in sometimes 60 seconds, exhaling almost nothing. thats why i did it, as i was not allowed to smoke weed at the time, let alone in the house.
for the past month, i've been trying not to hold in anything longer than 5 seconds. its pretty hard to change something i've been doing for so long, but im getting better at it. I still get just as high(so it seems)
im really more concerned with the negative aspects of holding it in longer. in the documentary the guy said anything after 5 seconds, your lungs are just absorbing the carcinogens. it kind of got me thinking. i've been wondering how bad could it be? have i been doing MUCH more damage to my lungs for all these years?
with cigarettes, nobody i know hold the hits in long(more than2-3 seconds), but with weed, myself and lots of other people i smoked with hold it in much longer. some people i noticed over the years would only hold it in a few seconds, i always assumed i got higher than them. you know what they say when you assume, d'oh

 

[Capt.Cannabis]

man when theres practically an unlimited supply of weed laying around, its almost crazy to hold the weed in longer than 2 seconds because ive found it fries my lungs much quicker and increases the risk of cough.

 

[walt cunningham]

I agree that holding your hits for 10-15- 20 -30 secs is just lack of oxygem to brain,but how about hacking , when you choke does anyone think you get higher ?, I think I heard before that different parts of lungs open up when you cough?

peace TS

i heard coughing gets you higher also, they explanation i was told was that it gets the smoke into fresher parts of the lung that hadn't received smoke from the previous hits. whatever it is, i think it works. it could just be that big hits make most people cough. the bigger hit you take, the higher you get

man when theres practically an unlimited supply of weed laying around, its almost crazy to hold the weed in longer than 2 seconds because ive found it fries my lungs much quicker and increases the risk of cough.

i hear you on that, why not if you have it like that.

 

[Nick Sand]

I rarely smoke at all anymore. I vape daily. I strongly suggest you peeps watch this video to completion. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJmQ16cGBHU I found it very interesting. You can google "UCLA Tashkin" for more stuff.

 

[canadiancracker]

i heard the 5-7 seconds too.. after that you just depriving your brain of oxygen..

 

[juicepuddle]

Haha I have seen all of these said a million times.

Coughing IMO doesn't do shit, it might open your lungs but so what if the smoke has already jettisoned out of your chest

As for depriving your brain of oxygen that is a maybe for sure, however I also read that your heart rate / beat determines when the THC is pumped into you, so the longer you hold your hit the more can get into your system.

I have no idea what is true, but I have my experience.

I can hold a hit till nothing comes out, but I almost never do this unless I have a high quality concentrate. I say hold it in until you think your not getting anymore, everyone is different so I figure everyone's hold time is too.

Once I stopped caring about the actual truth of the matter I started to learn about myself and in the process now know exactly how long to hold my hits.

Tend to hold most hits from 4-6 seconds, not including the inhale.

 

[mugenbao]

I usually will hold it in about two, maybe three seconds, max. I don't feel like I'm lacking any benefit from not holding it in longer, and am perfectly satisfied with my results. I don't care for coughing, and I can't be bothered to make sure I absorb every last possible bit of THC from each hit. I smoke to relax and feel better, not to get high for the sake of getting high.

If I need another hit, I can always take another hit. Simple, relaxed, and perfectly satisfying.

 

[Babbabud]

Breathe in breathe out ... if that doesnt work Ill roll another.

 

[TruthOrLie]

I'm with Babbabud on this one.

I know if I leave a hit in the bong more than a couple seconds it tastes worse.

Probably much more increased chances of tars/resins coating your tissues the longer you hold it in.

Some people still claim MJ contains carcinogens that are cancer causing... I know blunts do.

 

[VirginHarvester]

I have also heard it's only necessary to take a deep breath in and exhale after only a couple seconds. THC that has been combusted(?) is easy for lungs to absorb and after that it's the tar and carcinogens settling on the lungs. OTOH, if you vape, hold it for a while because it seems harder for lungs to absorb THC that's been vaped, but you don't have to worry about carcinogens with vapor.

 

[walt cunningham]

awesome responces.
when i vaped i would do at east 30 seconds, sometimes over 1 minute. if i didn't hold it in really long, i wouldnt get very high.
i think im going to try the just a few seconds from here on out