Short & Sweet Version:

1. (Optional) Crumple up the paper to soften it and give it additional grip for rolling. After crumpling it up, flatten it back out. 
2. Fold the paper in half gently to form a V shape. Make sure the $100 image is facing out.
3. Twist the corner with your right hand a centimeter long
4. Put your finger through the V shape to form a nice pocket.
5. Insert your legal herb of choice into the pocket
6. Make sure the glue strip is on the far side.
7. Tuck over the side close to you and roll the legal herbs into the perfect joint shape. 
8. Roll the side closest to you, and then, with your index fingers, roll over the top
9. Now gently lick the glue strip just enough to activate (not lick off) and seal your Benny.

There you go! 

If you are still having issues rolling, check out our cones! 

Video Demonstration from the NJL here: https://youtu.be/q_1GBZFr0ew

Background Information On Rolling

Reviving the art of joint rolling 

In decades past, smoking a joint was the time-honored and preferred method of consuming marijuana and its potent psychoactive ingredient, THC. However, many things have changed over the last decade on the green scene. While the oldest bong dates back thousands of years, an influx of high-quality and inexpensive bongs and glass pipes has caused their use to gain wider traction. At the same time, the average THC content of most of today’s marijuana strains is far higher than in times past, meaning that smokers are often content to take just one or two hits at a time. 

Additionally, vaping implements and dab rigs have gained tremendous popularity, ensuring that even experienced smokers can get blown to the exosphere by taking just one Olympic drag off the pipe. These trends have led to a relative decline in the popularity of joint smoking. One consequence of this has been that many pot smokers from newer generations have little or no experience in smoking or rolling their joints. Increasingly, younger pot smokers are getting turned on to the mind-bending highs and satisfying smoking experience that can be had by rolling joints. As a preferred means of smoking herb, the joint is poised to light up the party for years to come. 

Relearning a lost art

One of the problems that joint-rolling has faced as a popular way to smoke weed has been that it involves some actual skill. But the rewards are well worth the extra effort for those who want to get blown out on the next level. 

Throughout the long period of American history when cannabis was illegal, smoking a joint was often the most practical way to get buzzed. Those who grew up between 1960 and 2000 and smoked marijuana will almost universally have many fond if foggy, memories of smoking joints in out-of-the-way places. Even in the 1960s, high-quality bongs and pipes were available, although they could often be expensive. But the simple fact was that, when you smoked, you wanted to be able to ditch your weed fast lest snooping cops show up and find your ticket to the prison. Large bongs and glass pipes with a singular and self-evident purpose were not the types of curiosities you wanted John Law to be found after tossing your car up, for cause, because it smelled like someone just hit a skunk. 

This meant that nearly everyone had ample experience smoking joints. And almost everyone who was a severe smoker was an adept joint roller. To this day, older pot smokers can frequently roll cigarette-perfect joints with the same effortless skill that Amazonian tribesman can rig a spear. 

But a combination of laxer laws, more people smoking in their homes, and the much higher potency of modern weed strains have caused a general decline in the ability of younger generations to roll joints. Still, there is no substitute for the joint for portability, concealability, and flat-out mind-blowing smoking sessions. And when it comes to a mobile clam-bake session that would make Cheech and Chong lightheaded, nothing holds a Bic lighter to a good old-fashioned joint. So with these high points in mind, let’s review the basics of how to roll your own. 

Rolling a joint like a pro

The first thing you’ll need when rolling a joint is paper. First, of course, cigarette rolling papers will do the trick. But these are often relatively small. For those seeking a more thorough buzz, starting with a product like Empire Rolling hundred dollar bill rolling papers is excellent. These hundred-dollar bill papers are made out of all-natural vegetable fibers and use a vegetable-oil-based adhesive to ensure that the joint stays rolled tight and smoke like a fine cigar. 

Another thing that you may want to go with is a filter. Using a standard business card strip is a great way to make a joint filter. Cut off the last inch or so of a business card, then roll it into a cylinder as tightly as possible. This will reduce the harshness of the smoke and will even act to effectively filter out some of the heavier tars while preventing the mass ingestion of rolling paper. Using a filter will also prevent the smoke from becoming too hot when it is reduced to roach status, which means that most of the body of the joint has already combusted. 

Preparing your weed in a grinder

Grinding your marijuana is crucial when smoking from a bowl or pipe. While some people try to smoke intact buds or buds that have only been slightly torn apart, keeping marijuana in bud form is an inefficient means of smoking it. By failing to grind or cut up the bud into far smaller pieces, the smoker is not allowing the many fragrant oils and THC to be maximally released by exposing as much surface area as possible. This means that not only do buds not burn as well as ground pot, but they also tend not to release as much THC into the smoke while not combusting nearly as wholly. Therefore, when smoking buds from a pipe or bong, failing to grind them up first is wasted. 

But failing to grind your weed when rolling a joint will make the rolling task flat-out impossible. This means that grinding your weed in a solid grinder is a critical first step in rolling an even and smokable joint. Preferably, the weed should be freshly ground just before rolling so that the natural oils don’t have a chance to evaporate. 

Shake, a term that describes loose plant materials typically of particulate size can also be used to roll a joint. While shaking won’t require grinding, people should know that shaking often contains stems, seeds, and other plant matter that smokes poorly and may cause highly harsh hits. This is especially true when smoking joints, as marijuana cigarettes tend to deliver a generally more brutal hit in the first place. 

When rolling a joint, high-grade ground marijuana is, by far, the preferred form. 

Roll it up

Once you have ground your buds, you are ready to roll. This stage is where you will see a difference in volume between a blunt-sized long paper, like Empire hundred dollar bill Benny joints, and the smaller joints that papers like Zig-Zag produce. 

There are multiple ways to roll a tight joint. The most common is to simply put the paper on a flat surface and then sprinkle the ground weed as evenly across the length of the paper, with the sprinkled weed being concentrated as close to the center of the paper as possible. It’s important not to overload the joint with too much weed, making it hard to seal the joint properly. On the other hand, putting too little inside will result in a so-called pinner, a joint that burns extremely quickly and yields little smoke. 

Next, you should lay the filter in the center at one end of the joint. Now, tuck the side of the joint without the adhesive strip as tightly into the other side as possible, using the filter as a guide around which to roll the non-adhesive side of the paper. Then, you can lick the adhesive strip and roll it as tightly as possible around the filter. The joint should very closely approximate the shape of a store-bought cigarette. The last step is to twist the end of the joint to prevent the contents from falling out. 

Now, you are ready to take mega rips off this timeworn American tradition used to get blowout highs for generations. Whether clambaking a car, getting stoned in a park or just taking a quick hit in between classes, through all the advancements in marijuana science, the joint remains one of the most powerful and effective THC delivery systems ever devised.