Doobies for Newbies: The Michigan stoner’s guide to not smelling like weed

By Kyle Kaminski

March 3, 2025

Love getting high but hate walking around smelling like a dispensary? Here’s how to ditch that telltale cannabis funk.

MICHIGAN—There’s a difference between enjoying good weed and letting everyone within a 10-foot radius know you just smoked it. One is a personal choice. The other is an easy way to get side-eyed at Meijer.

And in Michigan, keeping your sesh discreet isn’t always easy. Between long winters that keep us sparking up indoors for half the year and the summer humidity that seems to make scents cling to everything, that Super Boof scent really tends to stick around.

But whether you’re headed to work, running errands, or just trying to keep things low-key, you don’t have to smell like a hotboxed car. Here are some tips from my personal stash on how to keep your high to yourself—without bringing the aroma everywhere you go.

1. Wash your hands.

If you just broke down a sticky nug, your fingers probably smell like a dispensary. A quick rinse with soap (or hand sanitizer in a pinch) keeps the scent from following you around.

2. Change your clothes.

That hoodie you’ve been wearing all week? Yeah, it probably reeks. Smoke clings to fabric, especially in the winter when you’ve been sparking up indoors for the last six months. Try swapping out layers—or at least airing them out. It can make a world of difference.

3. Brush up and hydrate.

Weed breath is real. Gum, mints, or a quick mouth rinse helps, but nothing clears out that cottonmouth funk like a bottle of water. It’ll also keep you from sounding like a bag of dry leaves.

4. Air it out.

Smoking inside? Open a window, turn on a fan, or run a space heater to keep the air moving. And if you’re lighting up in a car (while parked, obviously), give it a few minutes with the windows down. Michigan winters might be brutal, but that cold air does help kill the smell fast.

5. Use smell-proof storage.

Michigan dispensaries package weed in everything from glass jars to mylar bags. But if your stash still ends up stinking up the room, you should invest in a premium airtight container—especially if you don’t want your whole backpack or glovebox reeking of weed.

6. Don’t overdo the cover-up.

Dousing yourself in Axe body spray worked wonders in the middle school locker room. But now it just makes you smell like weed, plus something else. So, instead of drowning yourself in cologne or incense after a sesh, go for a neutral odor eliminator or fresh air. Less is more.

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Author

Kyle Kaminski

Kyle Kaminski is an award-winning investigative journalist with more than a decade of experience covering news across Michigan. Prior to joining The ‘Gander, Kyle worked as the managing editor at City Pulse in Lansing and as a reporter for the Traverse City Record-Eagle.

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CATEGORIES: CANNABIS

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