Valley sellers say go ‘low and slow’ with edibles

Open a pack of convenience store gummy candies and it’s hard not to grab a handful at a time to satisfy your craving.

But doing the same for a tube of marijuana gummy candies purchased at one of Las Vegas’ legal pot dispensaries could leave users on the floor.

Marijuana edibles have quickly become a hot seller in the first seven months of legalized pot in Nevada, with as much as 45 percent of all weed sales being edibles, according to figures from several dispensary owners.

The extreme potencies, however, have forced dispensaries and lawmakers to be proactive in educating many first-time Nevada users on how ingest pot properly.

“We’ve been very involved in the outset to prevent overconsumption,” said Riana Durrett, executive director of the Nevada Dispensary Association. “It has happened in other states and we want to prevent it from happening here.”

Marijuana edibles in Nevada are limited to 10 milligrams of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the psychoactive ingredient in pot, per dose or more than 100 milligrams of THC per package, according to state law. The edibles — in the form of chocolate bars, peanut butter cups, cookies, gummy candies, nuts and granola — can’t resemble images of cartoon characters, toys, balloons or animals and must be sold in sealed, opaque packaging.

An average dose for regular marijuana users is 10 milligrams of THC, said David Goldwater, owner of Inyo Fine Cannabis Dispensary in the central valley. While frequent pot users can easily handle up to 20 or 30 milligrams, first-time and less-experienced users should begin with 2.5 to 5 milligram doses.

That means when opening a stack of pot gummy rings — commonly sold in packs of 10 small candies at 10 milligrams each — first-time users should only eat one-fourth of one gummy to achieve a desired high. Experienced pot users could consume two to three whole gummy candies, Goldwater said.

As weed edibles can take the average person from 45 minutes to two hours to start feeling its effects, Goldwater said it should come as no surprise that so many

The extreme potencies have forced dispensaries and lawmakers to be proactive in educating many first-time Nevada users on how ingest pot properly.