Reddit, otherwise referred to as “The front page of the internet,” is a wildly popular news aggregator and discussion forum with hundreds of millions of regular visitors. The site supports a staggeringly wide rage of online communities around the world, making it among the most visited websites in existence today.
Not surprisingly, the site hosts a flourishing community of “subreddits” for cannabis enthusiasts and advocates. For those unfamiliar with the platform, discovering some of these communities can be difficult if you don’t know exactly what you’re looking for. The site is so expansive that its search algorithms can be tricky to master, and finding your preferred cannabis subreddit may be tougher than a simple query.
Below is a list of my five favorite cannabis subreddits, along with an explanation of why each is worth checking out, to help you find your preferred community of marijuana enthusiasts.
r/marijuana
While not the most popular subreddit by subscription count, r/marijuana is a good place to begin when searching for a cannabis community. Boasting just under 100,000 subscribers, r/marijuana is an educational hub focusing on policy, advocacy, information exchange, and discussion. Threads tend to focus on current events and policy announcements, such as legalization efforts both foreign and domestic. Top posts here tend to include aggregated news articles on cannabis-related topics, such as this Motley Fool piece on The American Journal of Public Health study regarding the decline of opioid-related deaths in Colorado since legalization.
Most of the time, and this applies to all subreddits, the juicy conversations begin in the comments section, and r/marijuana is no exception. This subreddit offers a mixed bag of opinions, pandering ranters, contributors expanding upon the source content with additional information or data, and reasonable discourse. A common rule when surfing content on reddit is that you really never know what you’re going to find in the comment section. Oddly enough, however, civility seems to surface more often in cannabis-based community threads.
r/trees
The history of cannabis communities on Reddit did not begin with r/trees, but it has certainly ended there. With over a million subscribers, this subreddit is soaring in popularity above the rest. Unlike other similar subreddits like r/marijuana or r/cannabis and r/mmj (the latter two focusing primarily on legalization efforts and marijuana initiatives), r/trees came into existence by former moderators (Reddit’s community administrators) as a means to build a community around cannabis enthusiasm. You’ll find a wide variety of content related to all things cannabis, with pretty robust comment threads that are easy to get lost in.
r/trees is so unique among the cannabis subreddits precisely because of its embodiment of community. Members of this subreddit refer to themselves as “Ents,” based around the ancient talking tree race from J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings mythos. Discussions on this forum tend to favor support and positive affirmation of cannabis use in all forms. For example, take this 4/20 thread from earlier this year. Garnering 62,000+ upvotes and over 500 comments to become the second-most popular post of all time in the r/trees subreddit, the post centered around who was smoking bowls on 4/20.
(Side note: if you’re wondering what happened to all of the arborists looking for a place to talk about actual trees, don’t worry; they cheekily named their subreddit r/marijuanaenthusiasts.)
r/glassheads
For a community centered around all things borosilicate, r/glassheads is the place to be. You’ll want to stop by if you have any appreciation for the art of both functional and nonfunctional glassblowing, as this community is great for collectors of glass art and enthusiasts alike.
Here you’ll find photos of pipes in all shapes and sizes, from dab rigs to tabletop giants, little spoons, and more. There’s a soft spot in this community for pendants as well as other glass-blown novelties like q-tip holders, dabber tools, bangers, and skillets. A great element in this community is that redditors are encouraged to promote artists when posting their work, giving an extra layer of exposure to these hard-working glassblowers and creators.
Some of the best content on this subreddit comes from gallery shows like this one from the BIG Expo a few years back. If you appreciate the mind-blowing quality of work being put out in this niche of the industry, you’ll feel right at home within the r/glassheads community.
r/microgrowery
Don’t be fooled by the name; r/microgrowery is huge among the cannabis cultivator community! There are several growers forums on Reddit worth checking out, but none compare to the sheer size of r/microgrowery. With over 80,000 subscribers, this is the place to be on Reddit for those interested in the horticultural side of the cannabis community.
There’s a little something for everyone here, from harvest photos to grow methodology discussion and troubleshooting tips for garden issues. Each discussion includes a level of civility that makes surfing posts a relatively pleasant endeavor. Even nervous beginners in the growing community are made to feel welcome, and their questions almost never go unanswered.
For those looking for some quick and digestible information on growing cannabis at home, this subreddit was kind enough to offer a beginner’s guide. Here you can find a relatively concise blueprint for where to begin setting up a basic grow. (If your grow knowledge is more advanced and you’re looking for discussions pertaining to larger-scale operations, the subreddit r/macrogrowery has you covered.)
r/dabs
Our list ends with a nod to enthusiasts of cannabis extracts and concentrates. r/dabs is a subreddit centered around anything related to the dabbing community. Here you can find pictures of various waxes, shatters, and concentrates; discussions pertaining to the style and form of dabbing; questions about methods and products; and more. For those new to dabbing, r/dabs has provided a beginners discussion forum to help with any questions. If you’re looking for some community feedback on which oil to look for, this is a great place to start.
For those interested in a slightly larger community for extract enthusiasts or need advice on extraction technology, r/cannabisextracts is the place to check out. There you’ll find discussions geared more towards the technologically proficient.
