The edibles market is booming and for good reason. Not only do they avoid any adverse effects from smoking, edibles offer a discreet method of consumption partnered with long-lasting effects. If you've never eaten one before, or gotten a bad experience, read on to find out about the types of edibles and tips to getting consistent results.
Types of Edibles
Edibles are simply foods infused with cannabis butter, oil, hash or similar. Surprisingly, a user's experience can vary greatly depending on the infusion or extract manufacturing method.
Understanding how the infusion gets made creates a simpler way to select something for your lifestyle. Here are the four methods currently in use:
Carbon Dioxide Hash (CO2 hash) - a method for a pure-THC extract, which as a result, offers consistent THC measurements and effects in the final edible. This process produces only trace amounts of terpenoids and flavinoids.
Butane Hash - another pure-THC extraction process which shares virtually all characteristics of CO2 Hash. Its difference comes from the use of butane to extract all cannabinoids from the plant. Prior to its final application, all butane gets removed.
Cooking Butter/Oil - a whole plant extract that retains most of the originating biochemical compounds (cannabinoids, terpenoids, and flavinoids) from the cannabis plant. Butter and Oil will offer the closest representation of the entourage effect in cannabis. While stronger than hash extracts, compound concentration can be inconsistent within the medium, resulting in fragmented THC dispersion and inconsistent results.
Raw Cannabis Oil - Similar to Raw Cannabis Oil, the production process is time consuming, which leads to a greater cost for products at retail. However, both produces smoother highs when compared to hash oil.
Products come prepared in goods that appeal to both the traditional and modern consumer:
Pre-Made Goods - Brownies or Cookies, Gummies, Drops, Tabs
Drinks - Coffees, Teas, Beers
Additives - Some of the more inventive include Powders, Mixing Sticks, Honey to name a few
What's Different with Edibles
Everyone's experience with cannabis will be different, but especially so for edibles. Because they're passed through a few organs before reaching the blood brain barrier, anything within your stomach can affect your high.
For example, your onset time can vary from 15 min. to over an hour. This depends on the presence of food because those need to get processed as well. Even the type of foods you eat with it or have eaten will affect your experience.
This slow onset means users may be unsure they've consumed enough. In which case, care should be taken with additional dosages to avoid overconsumption. Along with edibles' stronger and longer body high, this can set up a bad session. Keeping records can help you avoid repeating undesireable effects.
How much edibles to eat?
Edibles are prepared using cannabis extracts. They're incorporated into the edible, making it impossible to know the precise amount being consumed. Hence, a low and slow approach with every new edible is key.
Since edibles enhance mental and physical effects, they generally come portioned. Depending on state legislation, edibles start around 5-10 mg per dose. But as mentioned above, there are other factors which make one product feel stronger than others.
To select an edible, you'll need to know how THC functions. In general, treat THC as the amplifier of a product's compounds. In effect, the more THC in a product, the more its existing cannabinoids (i.e. CBD, THC-V, CBG or CBN) and terpenoids (i.e. limonene, myrcene, pinene, etc.) effects are magnified.
Pros of Edibles
Timed release
Almost fully odorless
Longer high
Useful for initiating sleep and during sleep because of the timed release
Maintain freshness and potency over time
Cons of Edibles
Food intake affects the process
Slow onset of effects makes it difficult to determine the final outcome
Butters/oils may not distribute evenly from bite-to-bite
May not offer full spectrum benefits
Conclusion
Edibles are a great way to consume cannabis, especially if you want effects to last a while. They offer long-lasting effects and can be perfect for certain occasions. However, it’s important to know the time it takes for an edible to become active varies significantly from person to person.
With careful planning and execution, edibles can provide relief, relaxation, and euphoria in ways other forms of cannabis cannot. So make sure to track your dosage and effects, so you can have a better understanding of what works best for you. Have you tried cannabis edibles before? What was your experience like? Let us know in the comments below!
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