Medical marijuana is best when fresh and unharmed by extreme humidity or arid conditions. Its moisture content can change rapidly depending on the climate where the marijuana is kept, and is an important factor to consider when you store medical marijuana. Think about the way you store other perishable items that have parameters to keep to in order to maintain their freshness and quality. With this in mind, here are the best ways to store your medical marijuana in a safe and practical way. 

Make Sure Your Medical Marijuana Is Kept At The Right Temperature

Ideally, you need to keep marijuana at the right temperature to stop mold from growing on it. Mold thrives at temperatures above 77˚F. Keep your marijuana at a cooler temperature. If it’s stored at too high of a temperature, your cannabis can also dry out and become damaged, making it less effective. You also need to be careful to keep the temperature above freezing. Too cold and the bud structure can be damaged, resulting in less potent cannabis. For this reason, marijuana should not be kept in the fridge. The fluctuations in temperature and humidity of taking it out of the fridge and putting it back repeatedly can make it prone to growing mold or mildew. 

Keep Marijuana At An Ideal Humidity

Moisture content is very important when you’re deciding where and how to store your medical cannabis. If it gets too much moisture, it can be susceptible to mold, whereas too little moisture will dry it out and weaken the structure of the bud. Expressed in percentages of relative humidity (RH), cannabis has an ideal zone of 59% to 63% RH. 

Store Your Medication In The Dark

Medical marijuana should be kept out of direct sunlight. The darker a place you can store it, the better. UV rays will degrade marijuana and it has been shown to be the leading factor in the deterioration of cannabis. This is similar to the way that grass or leaves will start to turn brown after a very sunny day. 

Keep Medical Marijuana In Airtight Containers

Due to the way that marijuana requires being kept at a particular temperature and humidity levels, the best way to make sure that these levels stay consistent is by storing it in airtight containers. The less your marijuana is exposed to oxygen, the longer it will take to degrade over time. If you don’t expect to use medical cannabis right away, then you can use a vacuum sealer that can be used to increase the lifespan of the marijuana. A sealer isn’t needed for storage. While there are a lot of products that are marketed for storing cannabis, many users like to use simple mason jars rather than buy a branded product. These are an affordable option and come in varying sizes. 

Avoid Plastic Baggies

A lot of people use plastic bags to store their cannabis in. Despite this, you should try to avoid them. Plastic bags do not do anything to protect your medical marijuana from light, air, or moisture. This will hurt the freshness of the cannabis. Plastic bags also do not protect your buds from the risk of being crushed. Crushing them can result in the trichomes being removed from the bud, leaving you with a medicine that is less potent and less effective. 

Never Freeze Your Cannabis

It’s not recommended to freeze your cannabis for several reasons. The cannabis buds may have been frozen by the growers after they were harvested. If you freeze it again, this can degrade the buds and lead to bacterial growth due to the contact change in temperature. Another common issue that can happen when you freeze marijuana is that the low temperature can cause the trichomes to turn into icicles and break off. 

Avoid Opening Your Containers As Much As Possible

Whatever you decide to store your medical marijuana in, avoid opening the container as much as you can. The less you can open, touch, and move the buds of the cannabis, the better. If you’re always touching and moving your cannabis from one jar to another, you will end up destroying the trichomes. When you touch the buds, trichomes can stick to your hands rather than remaining where they’re supposed to on the dried flower. Only open your containers when you are going to use your medical marijuana for medical reasons. 

Keep It Secure

Your medical marijuana should be kept in a secure, locked cabinet, especially if you have children or pets in the household. Accidental ingestion is rare, but it’s best to be safe, just in case. 

This is especially important if you take your marijuana in the form of edibles like gummies, as these look appealing to children. Medical marijuana should be stored as carefully as you would store any other controlled medicine. 

How Long Can Marijuana Be Stored?

There’s no set time that marijuana can be stored for before it spoils. As long as you follow these tips for the best storage condition, cannabis can be kept successful for upwards of two years, although it may not be the same bud as when it was first cured. Cannabis does degrade over time, no matter how carefully you store it. Terpenes and essential oils will dry out over time, and THC degrades into the non-psychoactive cannabinoid CBN. If you’re going to be storing your medical marijuana for more than a short period of time, the best way to control and monitor the storage environment is through measurement and balance. A hydrometer will tell you the RH percentage so you know whether the cannabis needs more or less moisture. If you want to invest and take the guesswork out of these measures, there are products available that will adjust the humidity for you. 
If you are interested in medical marijuana, see if you qualify for a Florida medical marijuana card. Fill out our qualification survey to see if you qualify today!