They’re functionally the same – smoking plant material in that form factor. But I’ve noticed cigarette smokers tend to hold the cigarette facing out, in between their index and middle finger. Whereas someone smoking a joint would more typically hold it towards their palm, between their thumb and middle or index finger.

  • Sam@lemmy.ca
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    5 months ago

    Short filter on a joint is easier to hold with fingertips, whereas big filter on a cigarette can be held easily with fingers.

    • toy_boat_toy_boat@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      it’s also why it’s changing now! i don’t know about the US, but here in Canada we sell a lot of pre-rolls. They tend to have longer (paper) filters, and they’re easier to hold like one would a cigarette. most people i see here smoke joints like they would a cigarette now. still looks kinda dainty, though :P

      • WhiteOakBayou@lemmy.world
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        5 months ago

        I prefer to smoke in the cigarette style and those long cardboard crutches in pre rolls are so nice. I feel like if I’m using my fingertips I have to be real aware of the cherry but between my fingers it’s out of the way and ready for dramatic gesturing.

  • TheCriticalMember@aussie.zone
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    5 months ago

    Couple of reasons in my experience. Cigarettes have a generous butt, and are pretty structurally sound, which makes them pretty easy to handle that way, and you can ash with a simple flick of your thumb. Joints often have no butt, or just some folded up but of paper or some other dodgy bullshit, so there’s far less to grab onto. They’re also often pretty flimsy, and fall apart easily. So holding them that way gives you better control and is more gentle on the joint.

  • Darkassassin07@lemmy.ca
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    5 months ago

    Never been a cigarette smoker; but I’ve always preferred to hold joints inward to shield from wind and because the shorter filter/‘tip’ is easier to hold with the tips of your fingers. I also like the knock the ash off the end with my thumb vs flicking the whole joint/smoke to shake it off. Less chance of knocking the cherry off, especially with really finely ground bud.

  • subignition@fedia.io
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    5 months ago

    In my experience joints typically either don’t have a filter or have a handmade filter. They’re delicate, and rolling it between your fingers can open up the end and spill things out. So it’s better to have a more precise grip on them.

  • Diddlydee@feddit.uk
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    5 months ago

    Do they? I’ve never held either differently, in the classic cigarette style, and I’d say the same for most smokers I know.

  • Skunk@jlai.lu
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    5 months ago

    From memory cause I haven’t smoke in 20 years, it’s mostly about filter.

    Cigarette have industrial made filters that are solid and doesn’t heat that much.

    Joint have hand made filters generally made with a bit of rolled cardboard or the tip of a cigarette (opposite side from the filter). Both makes the joint less sturdy than a cigarette, the filter is less wide and the heat is more easily transferred.

    When you hold it like a cigarette between your index and middle finger it touches your fingers where the skin is the thinnest, so it burns you more easily, specially when you are close to the end of smoking.

    Then there’s maybe a psychological side, cannabis is illegal or frowned upon in many places, so hiding your joint inside your palm makes it less noticeable (except for the smell of course, I didn’t say it was logical).

  • 👍Maximum Derek👍@discuss.tchncs.de
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    5 months ago

    Heat and ashing.

    Due how finely shredded and tightly packed tobacco is, there is much less heat (that the inner finger is more sensitive to than finger tips) and easier to control / denser ash with cigarettes. Compounding this, the filter helps with heat and the between finger hold makes it easier to flick the dense ash. Their similar in components, but less so in functionally.

  • I only hold a joint different than a cigarette when the joint has no crutch and is getting close to the end. Gotta hold it with both hands to not only keep the end open to draw through, but also so I don’t burn myself because it’s so small.