Sprayed Weed: What It Is and Why (and How) To Avoid It

Sprayed weed interferes with a good ritual. It takes away from the plant’s natural beauty and adds synthetic material that you don’t want anywhere in your pipe or pre-roll. You won’t find any sprayed weed at The Travel Agency, and here’s why.

What is sprayed weed?

Sprayed weed is cannabis flower that’s sprayed with compounds that supposedly improve its weight, appearance, aroma, or potency (or some combination of all these traits). This alleged outcome is never the actual outcome, though. Instead, the consumption experience with sprayed weed is almost always awful. The sprayed compounds also add consumption risks not associated with dispensary-quality flower.

That “dispensary-quality” descriptor is important. Cannabis flower that’s grown, harvested, dried, and cured properly doesn’t need to be sprayed to meet consumer expectations. Put another way, any brand that sells sprayed weed is putting profits over quality.

By comparison, at licensed dispensaries, quality is the utmost priority across all products. It’s why the menu is so carefully curated and why all the products on it undergo state-regulated third-party lab testing. You won’t find sprayed weed on our shelves.

What compounds are commonly found on sprayed weed?

Inhaling the compounds sprayed onto weed typically leads to a bad experience. These compounds include:

• Synthetic cannabinoids. In unaltered, well-grown cannabis, the naturally abundant cannabinoid delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is the primary driver of the plant’s signature heady effects. Unlicensed products might be sprayed with synthetic versions of THC, like delta-8, delta-10, or THC-O, to inflate their THC content beyond what’s needed for a positive experience. Spraying them onto flower to increase its cannabinoid content decreases your enjoyment.
• Synthetic terpenes. Naturally occurring cannabis terpenes play a key role in shaping your experience. They also occur in far more plants than just cannabis, so there’s been extensive scientific research into them. Synthetic terpenes, on the other hand, are lab-made, and little research into their impact on the body exists. Avoid products such as sprayed weed in which these unexplored terpenes are present.
• THC distillate. This cannabis concentrate is great to use when making your own edibles since it’s 99% THC. That’s also why it’s common in vapes. However, when THC distillate is sprayed onto flower, it’s a sign that the grower is trying to mask poor quality with pumped-up THC content. It’s not that distillate itself is bad — it’s that its usage in this way is usually a foreboding sign. (Learn more about THC distillate.)
• Glass beads and silica. Glass isn’t made for inhaling, and silica can have highly negative impacts on the lungs. You should never smoke or vape flower that contains either substance.
• Pesticides and fungicides. Although cannabis cultivators may use these products to ensure their plants’ health, they shouldn’t be present in smokable cannabis flower. In fact, state-mandated lab testing confirms that cannabis products on dispensary shelves contain only a trace amount of these substances. Sprayed weed, on the other hand, near-universally exceeds the acceptable limits.

• Artificial fragrances. Just as you try not to inhale perfume or cologne when you spray it, you shouldn’t smoke cannabis covered in artificial fragrances. Sprayed weed, however, is often coated with these fragrances to make its aroma more appealing.

• Sugars and adhesives. Although there’s a type of cannabis product called sugar, the sugar sprayed onto flower is just the one you know from your kitchen. It’s generally not safe to inhale, nor are the adhesives that are often sprayed onto weed.

What’s the difference between sprayed and infused weed?

Sprayed weed is coated with undesirable, if not outright harmful, materials to improve its low quality. Infused weed, on the other hand, is lab-tested flower enhanced with a popular, trustworthy cannabis concentrate, often THC diamonds, with the sole purpose of increasing the flower’s THC content.

Infused cannabis is as OK (and enjoyable) to smoke as non-infused cannabis. That said, it will be substantially more potent, so you may face a learning curve with infused weed if you’re newer to cannabis. As the old saying goes, always start low and go slow.

Here’s a table breaking down how sprayed and infused cannabis differ:

Trait	Sprayed weed	Infused cannabis
Quality	Low	High
Added substances	Numerous, mostly harmful	Only THC diamonds, which are trustworthy concentrates
Lab-tested	No	Yes
Should you smoke it?	No	Yes, if you’re an experienced traveler
Available at licensed dispensaries like The Travel Agency	No	Yes

How to tell if flower is sprayed

The telltale signs of sprayed flower include:

• An unusually shiny, dull, smooth, cakey, or waxy appearance. In its natural, non-sprayed form, flower is coated in gorgeous milky-white trichomes and may have orange or purple flecks beyond its usual green.

• It’s overly sticky to the touch. Although trichomes are resinous and cannabis is thus a bit sticky in its natural form, spraying makes it overly and unpleasantly so.

• It has a harsh odor and taste (or barely any odor). The aroma and flavor of quality cannabis range from skunky and diesel-like to sweet and earthy. If you can’t smell anything or your flower has a chemical aroma or taste, it might be sprayed.

• It burns harsh and black. If you’ve ever smoked flower, you’ve seen that it naturally burns evenly and looks like regular gray ash. Sprayed flower typically burns black instead and may not burn evenly. If you witness this, your flower might be sprayed.

• Buds that are as solid as rock. Normally, flower is a bit spongy and gives a little when you squeeze it (just a little though — overly spongy cannabis is low-quality). Sprayed weed may be too solid to squeeze, so a quick touch test may be all you need to determine whether your cannabis is sprayed.

• Exceptionally negative side effects. Although consuming dispensary-quality cannabis may lead to side effects such as dry mouth, that’s a normal part of the consumption experience. By comparison, the side effects of sprayed weed include nausea, difficulty breathing, and other symptoms associated with being sick. You’re highly unlikely to experience this if you consume quality cannabis.

Sprayed weed vs. non-sprayed weed: A quick summary

We’ve said a lot about sprayed and non-sprayed weed, so we’ve gathered it all into a table for your convenience.

Trait	Non-sprayed cannabis	Sprayed weed
Quality	High	Low
Contents	Properly dried and cured cannabis buds	Numerous undesirable and harmful substances
Appearance	Green, orange, and/or purple with resinous, milky-white coating	Shiny, dull, smooth, cakey, waxy
How it feels to the touch	A bit sticky and spongy	Hard and overly sticky
Aroma and flavor	Skunky, diesel-like, sweet, earthy	Harsh or no aroma or flavor
How it burns	Evenly to a soft gray	Black and possibly unevenly
Side effects	Minor, if any; easy to manage	Potentially severe

How to avoid sprayed weed

The easiest way to avoid sprayed weed is to shop for cannabis at licensed dispensaries. The Travel Agency is licensed, meaning we’re required to adhere to state regulations that require third-party lab testing. This testing ensures that sprayed weed never makes it to our shelves, which are stocked with hundreds of premium products.

Shop top-quality cannabis at The Travel Agency

At The Travel Agency, cannabis flower and pre-rolls so well-cultivated they don’t need to be sprayed to “improve” their quality is only the start. We also stock New York’s best vapes, edibles, beverages, topicals, tinctures, concentrates, and more. Visit us to browse our selection and get tailored, personalized advice from our knowledgeable, friendly budtenders, or kick back at home with same-day cannabis delivery. Wherever you travel or stay put, we’re here for you.