Russians very rarely roll joints. They have excellent papiroses – short, thick cigarettes without a filter. There are many different brands of papiroses in Russia, but "Belomorcanal", or simply Belomor is the most popular. But you'd better not try to buy Belomor if you have some pot with you, you may attract the police. Belomor is a very cheap brand, and it's usually preferred by low-paid industrial workers, not the well-dressed young people.
читать дальшеPapirose are usually filled with the pure pot or mixed with tobacco. The papirose filled with weed is usually called kosyak, a word which means "jamb" or "shoal".
Friends usually smoke a kosyak using a technique called paravoz, meaning "steam-engine." Paravoz is quite a ritualized method of pot smoking. There are two participants – one takes the burning edge of the kosyak inside his mouth and breathes out, he is "giving out paravoz." Another is drawing a deep breath from the open side of the kosyak, and is "receiving paravoz."
Paravoz is a collective ritual popular in big gatherings. In spite of its outward eroticism, paravoz is used irrespective of sexual orientation. As a rule, the person who can give paravoz better than others gives it to all his friends.
The most widespread names for cannabis are: anasha, plan, konoplya (hemp), shala, ganjubas, cannabis, hash, soloma (straw), dudki (pipes), drap, hashish, plastilin (plasticine), matsanka, pyl' (dust), shishki (cones), boshki (heads), dur' (folly).
An empty papirose is called shtaket. When it's full of grass it's called kosyak . To stuff a papirose is zabit' (to choke up) or prikolotit' (to nail) a kosyak. To blow up a kosyak means to smoke it. When the pot is strong it's usually smoked not by whole kosyak, but by pyatka (heel), choking up only one third or quarter of the whole kosyak.
The beginners usually buy small amounts of grass. In such cases the grass is often measured by match box which is called korabl' (ship). Mature smokers prefer not to squander their funds and purchase grass by glasses. A ship and a glass are distinctive units of measure – one glass is assumed to be equal to ten ships. Usually people carry pot in a small paper package from which it's hard to pour out. Such a paper package is named pakavan.