Shake (cannabis)
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In cannabis culture, shake refers to the small, leafy fragments of cannabis (drug) that gather at the bottom of a bag, which are said to result, putatively, of it having been shaken in handling. By extension, shake has come to refer to many different types of crumbs or other small leafy particles of the plant which gather at any stage of harvest, packaging or transit. Shake can refer to either the shade leaves of the plant (not themselves potent, but may have a dusting of trichromes which fall from the flowers) or small broken parts of the bud (potent), and implies the absence of stems (which are not smoked). Shake can be smoked or further processed into kief, hashish, cannabutter, and others.
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[edit] Varieties
Nearly all bags of cannabis purchased on the street contain one or both kinds of shake, either as a cut by the dealer to increase the weight (leaf shake), or due to rough or prolonged handling (bud shake). Some patterns of usage distinguish between three basic kinds of shake:
[edit] Leaf shake (or just shake)
"Shake" is used most often to refer to cannabis leaves. However, to reduce confusion, it may also be called leaf shake or simply leaf to differentiate it from bud shake. Leaf shake can be bought in large quantities for extremely low prices, and is often given away.
Leaf shake is of low-potency, and its taste is not well-regarded. It is useful, though, to mix with hashish (in lieu of tobacco) in a spliff or chillum, and may sometimes be found set out for patrons in a small bowl at the counter of a hash bar.
[edit] Bud shake (crumbs)
"Shake" also may refer to small particles of cannabis broken off from the main nug, or bud, of cannabis. Many common recreational users of cannabis save their shake for use in rolling blunts, joints, or spliffs. "Bud shake" is typically as potent as bud and is often referred to as such to avoid confusion with extremely low-potency "leaf shake". However, since "bud shake" is sometimes used for yet a third form of the plant, this variety of shake might be called by a different name altogether, depending on region.
[edit] Bud leaf (sometimes also bud shake)
Less commonly, bud shake may refer to the smaller leaves clipped from the buds themselves, rather than those harvested from the larger fronds of the plant. These "bud leaves" are not as potent as buds, but are a good deal more potent than regular leaf shake.
[edit] Variations on terminology
Originally, "shake" was likely used exclusively for crumbs, whereas "leaf" and "bud leaf" would've been used for the leaf forms.
[edit] Regional variants
There has yet to be established a definitive jargon concerning this matter, and thus remains largely a matter of regional slang.
In areas where "shake" always refers to leaves, the term "bud shake" is used to indicate higher-potency leaves clipped from the bud. Particles of bud broken off from the main nug will instead be called "crumb". Thus, we have "shake" proper (leaf), "bud shake" (bud leaf), and "crumb". This terminology is prevalent in some parts of the Northwestern U.S.
In some areas, "shake" may still only refer to regular leaf, whereas "bud shake" will refer to crumbs, and "clippings" will be used for bud leaf. Alternately, "clippings" may refer to bud that has been cut specifically for blunt material, and by extension to the "crumbs" that will also be used for this purpose. Under this latter scheme, "bud shake" is again used for bud leaf.
In parts of the Northeastern U.S. the term "shake" has mutated into "chafe" with the meaning of the word left unchanged.
Throughout much of the Southern United States, the term "shake" is simply used to describe powdered and generally deteriorated cannabis bud, that is much more common with lower quality "shwag" weed. "Shake" may include some cannabis leaves though not exclusively.
In the UK, "shake" refers to a herbal mixture containing small amounts of cannabis and/or other drugs. Generally, shake is sold to younger and less knowledgeable users who could not obtain cannabis elsewhere. However, an increasing number of people are buying and using shake because of its cheapness. Shake has an overwhelming smell, which smells nothing like cannabis and will remain on clothing for a long time (and so is generally used by the poorer drug users).
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