So you want to be a pothead?  Quite an ambition you’ve got there.  Besides smoking a lot of pot, there are plenty of other things you’ll need to further achieve this goal.

You have some method of ingesting your cannabis, but a true pothead has an entire arsenal of smoking accessories.  Most of these items can be found in head shops – often decorated with tie-dye tapestries or clothing carrying “tobacco accessories.”  You should take care to note the etiquette in being in these shops.  Always refer to any marijuana accessory as if it were for tobacco.  Never make marijuana references when shopping in a head shop.  It puts the owner or employee in a hard spot and will often times refuse a sell at the mention of their well-understood intended use.

Back to the arsenal, rolling papers are the nation’s favorite.  These are conveniently found in many convenient stores or bodegas.  Rolling papers are often used for hand rolled tobacco cigarettes, but you can use them for marijuana cigarettes – affectionately referred to as joints; or, if you’re feeling European, you can mix the marijuana and tobacco to make a spliff.

Glass pipes – often referred to as pieces or bowls – can be found in head shops.  They’re often colorfully decorated and transparent.  The color and designs will often times darken in color as the burnt plant material’s tar stains the interior.

Preparing to roll a joint or pack a bowl can be time consuming – especially when already under the grips of time distortion.  A grinder – often referred to as a spice or herb grinder in head shops – can make the preparation process a bit quicker and the marijuana fluffier.  Grinders come in many designs, but the best are four-part grinders.  The grinder’s teeth make up the first two parts.  They are used to do the actual grinding.  The teeth separate to allow your herb to be grinded.  The third compartment will hold the ground weed which will go in your piece, bowl, or joint.  The fourth – and this is the kicker – is a tray for holding marijuana powder known as trichomes, or, more colloquially, kief.  A kief collection can take a while to build.  Often times, kief is used to sprinkle on top of a bowl pack or joint roll to kick the resulting high up several notches.  Enough kief can be used to make blonde hash.

A true pothead will smoke alone if no suitable compatriots are available to join, but a smart one won’t waste weed.  A one-hitter is perfect for this.  One-hitters come nearly as varied as glass pipes, but are often more discreet.  Many one-hitters, such as the one I own, are disguised as a cigarette and come with a wooden dugout – a place to store ground weed and an easy way to pack the one-hitter.

The bong is the ultimate pothead tool.  The water bong uses water to filter and cool the smoke to make it a more enjoyable (and allow bigger hits) experience.  For added comfort, add ice cubes to the bong to further chill the smoke.

Being a pothead basically boils down to smoking marijuana daily.  This list is not a complete one, but it can be used to make you (more) content with your cannabis consumption.