How to Roll a Joint: The Complete Beginner’s Guide

How to Roll a Joint: The Complete Beginner’s Guide

In every crowd of friends, there seems to be that one person who can roll the perfect joint. Joint-rolling can be a mystery for even experienced tokers. We’ve prepared this simple guide so you can be the expert joint roller in your social circle.

Rolling A Standard Joint

Materials:

  • ½ gram of cannabis
  • Handheld grinder
  • Rolling papers (standard 1¼ size)
  • Pencil (or similar pointed object)
  • Business card or other small piece of thin cardboard

Procedure:

  1. Grind the cannabis: The best way to grind cannabis for a joint is to use a dedicated manual cannabis grinder. Stainless steel grinders work best, but inexpensive plastic cannabis grinders will do the trick. Headshops and dispensaries carry a wide range of grinder models. If you don’t have a grinder available, you can break up the buds by hand or use scissors.
  2. Make a filter (optional): While it’s not absolutely necessary, a cardboard filter will help give your joint stability and keep pieces of ground cannabis from getting into your mouth. You can make a simple filter by cutting thin cardboard and rolling it into a tube about the size of a standard cigarette. A pencil or pen will come in handy for forming your filter.
  3. Fill the joint: If your paper has a glue strip, you’ll need to make sure that you hold the paper with the glue strip facing inward at the top. Next, place the filter on one end of the rolling paper and begin adding ground cannabis. 
  4. Roll your joint: Once you’ve added the full ½ gram of cannabis, it’s time to roll your joint. This part of the process takes practice, so don’t get discouraged if your joint doesn’t turn out the way you want the first time around. First, place a thumb and index finger on either side of the paper and roll the joint back and forth a few times to pack the cannabis. Next, tuck the unglued end of the paper into the joint and roll. You can either roll your joint straight or let it take on a conical shape with the thinnest end on the side of the filter.
  5. Finish the joint: Seal the joint by moistening the glue strip or outer edge of the paper. Then, use a pencil or other pointed object to pack the cannabis a bit more tightly. Lastly, twist the remaining paper on the wide end of your joint to keep the cannabis from falling out. Congratulations! You’re ready to light up the twisted end and enjoy your joint.

Other Ways To Roll Joints

Rolling Machines

A joint rolling machine can come in handy if you’re planning to roll a lot of joints. You can use manual cigarette rollers for making joints, but be careful not to pack the paper too tight, or you’ll have trouble drawing the smoke. If you want to get serious about your joint rolling, you can buy an automatic joint roller that will grind and fill the perfect joint at the press of a button.

Fancy Joints

Joints have come a long way from the standard 1960s doobie. These days you can find a host of instructions for rolling fancy joints online—from blunts and pipe joints to crosses and animal shapes. Grab some custom rolling papers and a bag of herb, fire up YouTube, and experiment to your heart’s content.

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About the author

George Mouratidis works as a full-time copywriter and journalist. He is the founder of WeedCopywriter.com, a bespoke content writing agency for the cannabis industry. George is a regular editor for many industry publications, as well as corporate blogs. He is also the co-writer of the book Ganja Hustle; a hit cannabis growing guide for the USA and Canada markets. When he is not writing, George likes to work out, trying new foods and playing with his cat. Currently, he lives in Greece.