29 words to know if you're interested in buying legal pot

Kathleen Gray | Detroit Free Press

Show Caption Hide Caption The five craziest names for marijuana strains in Michigan The most humorous names for marijuana strains in Michigan.

Since marijuana hit the retail market for adult recreational use on Dec. 1, there will be plenty of people who are either uninitiated in pot culture and nomenclature or who haven't tried weed since college, when it was a much different product.

While marijuana has been used to treat and ease the symptoms of dozens of ailments from insomnia and chronic pain to cancer, epilepsy and Parkinson's, many people also use it simply to get high.

Also read: Marijuana cash registers humming with $221,000 sold in first day of sales

Related: Hundreds wait in line for first day of legalized recreational marijuana sales

The sale of legal weed will be a slow roll out from the state as it gradually awards licenses to marijuana business owners. But instead of going into a legal weed retail shop totally unaware of the latest lingo, here's a guide that will get the ball rolling with your friendly neighborhood budtender:

Cannabis: The plant that has a strong and tough stem that can be used for industrial purposes and its flowers can be transformed into marijuana products.

Sativa: One of three families of cannabis, known for its energizing effects and used to treat depression

Indica: One of three families of cannabis, known for producing a relaxing high and aiding in sleep and chronic pain relief.

Ruderalis: The least common family of cannabis, known for quick flowering. It is sometimes bred with indica or sativa to increase the speed of growing.

Blunt: A marijuana cigarette made by dumping the tobacco out of a cigar and replacing it with marijuana.

Bong: A glass, ceramic or plastic device used to smoke marijuana that also has a chamber for water to cool the smoke before it’s inhaled.

[Want to stay up to date on Michigan's marijuana market? Sign up for our newsletter here.]

Budtender: The person who consults with marijuana customers at dispensaries and sells the product.

Cannabinoids or CBD: The chemical compounds found in cannabis. Some of the compounds contain THC, others don’t, but can be used in creams and oils for pain relief.

Concentrate: A refined and processed form of marijuana that is more potent than marijuana flower. This is an umbrella term that covers a variety of marijuana products.

Dab: A smaller quantity of cannabis concentrate, which when mixed with a heat source, turns to vapor

Edibles: Marijuana-infused products – cookies, candies, butters and drinks – that are meant to be consumed rather than smoked. The psychoactive effects from edibles often take longer to kick in, perhaps 30-45 minutes, and often last longer than inhaled marijuana.

Flower: The hairy, often sticky bud of the marijuana plant that is dried and either smoked or infused in a variety of marijuana products.

Hemp: One form of the cannabis plant that has very low THC levels and is used for paper, rope and fiber board, as well as products containing CBD.

Joint: A rolled marijuana cigarette. Also known as doobie, fatty, J, bone, cone or a spliff, and mixed with tobacco

Kief: The leftover residue when the flower is separated from the cannabis plant. When collected and compressed, the yellow powder can produce an intense high.

Kush: A specific and well-known strain of the indica cannabis plant.

Provisioning center: The name the state has given for a medical marijuana dispensary.

Retail store: As the state has defined, a shop where marijuana is sold to anyone 21 or older.

RSO or Rick Simpson Oil: Named for a well-known marijuana activist, RSO is a highly concentrated form of cannabis extract that is widely used to treat a variety of ailments.

Sesh: A gathering of like-minded pot smokers who get together for a sesh or session of indulging in marijuana.

Shake: Dried or broken pieces that fall off a marijuana bud. It resembles dried green herbs that can be sold in bags.

Shatter: A type of potent marijuana concentrate used with a bong-type of device.

THC: Tetrahydrocannabinol, accounts for the psychoactive effects or high associated with marijuana.

Terpenes: Chemical compound found in cannabis that produces the flavor and smell of the flower.

Tincture: Liquid form of marijuana or CBD dropped underneath the tongue.

Topical: A marijuana- or CBD-infused lotion, balm or cream that is used to relieve pain. and since any THC in the product is absorbed through the skin, it produces no high. But, the THC still could show up in the blood stream and trigger a positive drug test.

Trim: Excess snipping of leaves, stalks and stems from the buds of marijuana plants, and used to make extracts, tinctures and edibles.

Vape Pen: portable vaporizer that uses pre-filled cartridges of cannabis oils. Similar to an e-cigarette.

Wax: An especially potent and concentrated form of marijuana that is used with a vaporizer or bong.

Kathleen Gray covers the marijuana industry for the Detroit Free Press. Contact her: 313-223-4430, kgray99@freepress.com or on Twitter @mich