The Best Cannabis Products for When You Only Have a Quick Layover

The age of cannabis tourism has been upon us since the mid-2010s when the first states legalized recreational marijuana. A lot has changed since those early days. Most importantly, the number of states with recreational laws and the quality of the products available. Today, people can make whole weekend trips into mini cannabis vacations — even if your return destination hasn’t caught up with legalization yet. All you have to do is find the right products that will provide the right type of high without leaving you stranded with handfuls of cannabis right before you need to jet back home.

Pre-rolled joints, edibles, and vape pens are some of the best things to keep an eye out for on your travels if you only have a few days. The latter two are especially important to be familiar with if you’re not staying in a consumption-friendly accommodation (that’s where Matador’s handy first timer’s edibles guide comes in handy). Of course, few people will know the local market and regionally specific brands like your budtender, as well as the technology and ethos behind individual brands (there are a lot of disposable vape options out there, for example, but the ones using CCELL’s ceramic pen technology are sure to deliver a pleasant and consistent experience).

These are the brands and products to seek out the next time you have a long layover or a short weekend in a state with recreational cannabis.

Pre-rolls

Stone Road

Photo: Stone Road

There are plenty of cannabis brands with aesthetically pleasing packaging out there. Still, Stone Road stands out — and it’s one that has just as good of cannabis as it does design. It’s most known for its Eighth Pack, which has five pre-rolled, 0.7-gram joints in 99-percent plastic free packaging. For something a little stronger, opt for the hash joints, which have 0.8 grams of flower and 0.2 grams of hash. There’s a little bit of wiggle room on amount: there are singles in a glass and cork tube as well as 10 packs that have double the number of pre-rolls.

The flower itself comes from Stone Road’s biodynamic farm (meaning ladybugs, predator mites, and beneficial fungi instead of synthetic products) in Nevada City, California, located north of San Francisco near Tahoe National forest. Farm tours run from May through September and can be scheduled from the Stone Road contact page.

States: California

Viola

Al Harrington spent more than a decade in the NBA before starting Viola, which is named after his grandmother who experienced relief from glaucoma through cannabis. Today, Viola is available in multiple states and has a strong social justice and equity push behind its products. In addition to investing in communities most affected by the war on drugs, there’s the Harrington Institute, which offers classes about the industry, and the Viola Accelerator, which has the goal to create 100 Black millionaires in cannabis.

The sleek, one-gram, single-strain pre-rolls are a product you can feel good about — both because of the company’s ethos and because of its long history cultivating world-class cannabis.

States: Colorado, Oregon, California, Michigan, and Washington

Lowell

Photo: Lowell Farms/Facebook

This well-loved California company has branding that’s somewhat reminiscent of the late 2000s-early 2010s cocktail era when bars were trying to pretend they were “speakeasies” and bartenders had mustaches and suspenders. Once you get past that vibe, Lowell has a lot of good cannabis to be found. The Quicks Eighth Packs are perfect for people on the go. Ten .35-gram pre-rolls come in each pack, allowing you and your smoking buddies to get out, hit a quick personal joint, and then get back to living. As a bonus, you don’t have to go searching for a lighter when you opt for a Lowell pre-roll pack. Both the shorties and the full-sized joint packs come with the required number of matches, and you can choose from blends to single strain to hash-infused pre-rolls.

States: California

Magic Hour

Adriana Ruiz Carlile and Will Perry were in fashion and advertising before moving to Portland, Oregon, and starting Magic Hour Cannabis. Today, the company is one of the only minority owned producers in the state. The brand’s half-gram pre-rolls are 100-percent organic and come in five-pack boxes made of locally and sustainably sourced hemp. One special pack for travelers to keep an eye on is the two-pack that comes in half-gram joints organized by the mood you’re chasing.

States: Oregon

LEUNE

Photo: LEUNE/Facebook

Founder and CEO of LEUNE Nidhi Lucky Handa has found a way into the hearts and hands of celebrities with her sleek “cannabis 3.0” brand. Anyone looking for a quick and enjoyable high will likely do the same — especially with the Calibre two-joint, hash-infused pre-roll tin that’s the perfect product for you and a friend on a quick trip (though there are plenty of other high-quality joints of regular size and strength to choose from, too). In addition to putting out flower and stylish vapes, LEUNE works on social justice initiatives through partnerships with organizations like The Last PRisoner Project, Eaze Momentum, and the Floret Coalition.

States: California

Canndescent

Sometimes going all in on cannabis strains and specialties and farms with your budtender isn’t in the cards. There’s nothing wrong with just wanting an easy choice to match your desired mood. And that’s where Canndescent comes in. You won’t find bespoke strains here or marketing about hand farming every plant — the company puts front and center that it processes more than 750,000 jars of cannabis, makes about 2.5 million pre-rolls, and produces more than 37,000 pounds of cannabis every year. You will, however, find pre-rolls classified by effects like Calm (for konking out), Cruise (for letting the day pass b), Create (for the artistically inclined), Connect (to share with friends and more than friends), and Charge (for being active after). There are one-gram pre-rolls sold as singles or six-packs with 0.5-gram pre-rolls to share. For the indecisive or a group who all want different things, a variety pack of 0.5-gram pre-rolls has one of each signature effects.

States: California

Edibles

Purejuana

Photo: Purejuana

Edibles often try to hide the flavor of whatever THC extract is used. That’s often a good thing, and there’s nothing wrong with a great tasting edible that has consistent results made with a bad tasting extract. But then again, there’s something special about an edible that tastes like the heady cannabis terpenes that make flower smell so good in the first place. Purejuana’s liquid-soluble THC powder is one of the latter. The rapid onset powder is made from live cannabis that comes in 2.5, 5, and 10 milligram packs so you can dose accordingly. The brand has a list of alcohol-free Purejuana cocktails that highlight the cannabis notes, like the chill harder (hibiscus tea, grapefruit, fennel cordial, lemon juice, and Purejuana’s Venom OG) and the pure crushland (yuzu bitters, sesame syrup, lemon juice, Purejuana’s Super Lemon Haze, and Lagunitas N/A Hoppy Water). You can put it in just about anything, though, as long as it’s not mixed into a hot liquid. A personal favorite is simply a high-quality soda water with a lime garnish.

States: California

Incredibles

Matador is all about getting out and seeing the world. There are times when traveling, however, that you just need to get some sleep to fix your jet lag. The Incredibles Snoozeberry bar made with chocolate, blueberries, and rice crispies is just the fix. It has a mix of THC and CBN (another natural cannabinoid found in cannabis that will have your eyelids drooping). Many companies make great tasting edibles these days, but Incredibles has been delivering cannabis-infused candy that tastes like, well, candy since it was founded in 2010. Other bars to keep an eye out for include Black Cherry (a one-to-one mix of CBD and THC) and Monkey Bar, which is made with dark chocolate, walnuts, and freeze-dried bananas.

States: Colorado, Illinois, Nevada, Massachusetts, Maryland, and Ohio

Ripple

Photo: Ripple/Facebook

One of the most common complaints about edibles you’re likely to hear over and over again is that they’re unpredictable and take too long to set in. Not so with Ripple. The brand’s water-soluble THC powder easily dissolves into whatever drink you have on hand and blends in without adding much of any taste at all. What it does add is a quick kick of THC. Tests done by the company showed THC absorption in 15 minutes with peak absorption at one hour, making it a high that’s steady and measurable for the rapid onset you get with smoking without the smell. Plus, the discreet, pure-THC powder can be added to just about anything. Other options include a 50-50 CBD-THC mix, as well as a powder that’s 200-milligrams of CBD to 5 milligrams of THC. Quick sticks that dissolve on your tongue like Pixie Sticks are another option for those who don’t have a drink or food on hand.

States: Colorado

Vapes

Dosist

The disposable Dose Pen 100s from Dosist conveniently come with 100, 2.5-milligram-per-drag hits — just the right amount for a fast weekend trip with a friend or two. A ceramic wick and stainless steel coil keep each hit level and consistent, and the pen is a smart choice for anyone who wants a controlled vape experience. The pen vibrates and then automatically shuts off once the 2.5-milligram inhale is complete.

States: Colorado

Eureka

Eureka’s disposable pens are discrete and easy to use — like other disposables there’s no button to worry about, but Eureka also manages to make a vape pen look classy. There are 500- and 300-milligram options with strain-specific terpene options whether you prefer a sativa, indica, or hybrid.

States: Colorado