50 Shades of Green is currently touring the major cannabis trade shows and cultural events in Italy, before heading to more exhibition in the rest of Europe. A few weeks ago, while showcasing the installation in Bologna at Indica Sativa Trade, the largest cannabis trade show in Italy, I’ve met my friends of Harvin, the Italian leader in sales and distribution of cannabis vending machines, as they were among the exhibitors of the Bologna trade show.

While chatting, the topic of the new Harvin website came out, and my friends invited me to write an article about cannabis culture for their blog. At first I thought of writing about cannabis terpenes since, you know… I’m pretty much into it because of my recent installation work. But then I came out with another idea which is more in line with what Harvin stand for with their cannabis vending machines: what to do when you run out of weed, specially if it happens at night?

Today it’s not very difficult to legally purchase some marihuana, as with the new Italian legislation about legal cannabis not only it’s possible to find legal weed (and hash, and edibles) pretty much at every corner in hemp shop, grow shops, tobacco stands and even news stands. But what to do when, in the late evening when all shops are closed, you realize that you have run out of “the herb”?

It can happen at anytime, for example when, after spending the evening watching a movie or the latest episode of Game of Thrones, you want to smoke a relaxing joint before going to sleep. Or, even worst, when you have some smokers friends at home, and they count on you to roll the next joint. It’s a terrible scenario, but there’s no need to panic. There are in fact several things you can do to sort out that last minute joint fix.

First of all, check your grinders, as a ridiculous amount of weed generally gets stuck in between blades, not mentioning the kief you might have collected if you planned it in advance. The weed stuck in grinders (and the kief) is generally very rich in resins, so even if you manage to collect a small amount, it should be enough for a decent smoke.

There is also a “dirty” alternative; if you smoke weed in pipes or bongs, you can scrape the resin out of your pipes. It will smell and taste horrible, but it will do the trick. A similar classic dirty trick is to collect all the roaches from your ashtrays, and recover whatever you can get from the old spliffs to roll a new one. Again, not the best way to “taste” marihuana, but it works – provided that you had plenty of rouches around – and please no, don’t go scavenge your trash, that would be disgusting (but I’ve heard of people who ended up doing that too).

If you vape your weed, there is a chance that you are also collecting the vaped weed, as you can easily use it for a relaxing tea, or to produce cannabis butter. In that case, just roll some vaped weed in a spliff, and you are done. Well, kind of… your joint will have virtually no THC nor CBD, as you vaporized it, but you will be able to enjoy a bit of aroma, without that bad burnt flavor.

Then, there is the “magic solution” – this is when you start checking the pockets in all your pants and jackets, as well as below your sofa’s pillows and… tah-dah! The magic might happens and you could be so lucky to find some little treasures you forgot or lost. Just remember, the possibilities of finding something is close to zero, but at least you have tried to do something to solve the problem and you should feel good about yourself.

So what’s the real solution? Just go out for a quick walk around your neighborhood, and check all closed hemp and tobacco shops. There is a good chance that one or more of them have already equipped the shop with a vending machine that sells weed, maybe even one of the great cannabis vending machines distributed by Harvin, so you can also buy some CDB candies or why not a cannabis-infused iced tea.

If not, just forget about that spliff – drink a chamomile or herb tea and just go to sleep.

The next morning don’t forget to go back to your local tobacconist, and to convince them to get a cannabis vending machine, so they can expand their business 24 hours per day, making everybody happy.

Especially you, so you don’t have to recur to dirty tricks.  To make the message even stronger, you can even go to the shop by wearing the “I hate running out of weed in the middle of the night” tshirt you can find on Amazon! =)