What you need to know before you try ingestible cannabis products
Here’s what you need to know before you try ingestible cannabis products.
The world of weed edibles is vast – and continues to grow. There are gummies, brownies, biscuits, sweets, mints, drinks, capsules, dissolvable tablets and more. Exploring all these options can be a fun adventure, but edibles can also be intimidating because their effects last much longer than when you inhale cannabis. And once you ingest them, there’s no turning back. So here’s what you need to know before you try it.
01 What are they?
Edibles are touted as a way to have fun but also manage some health conditions, particularly pain and sleep issues. Some research suggests they can be helpful. There’s strong evidence that cannabis can help reduce chronic pain symptoms and moderate evidence that it can help alleviate short-term sleep issues associated with some health conditions, according to a comprehensive 2017 report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) in the US. But those findings don’t address ingestible cannabis specifically or individual products on the market now.
It’s crucial to be mindful and intentional about where you spend your money on cannabis products, prioritising diverse-owned dispensaries and products wherever possible. But without much guidance, the consumer is left to make choices about which products to use on their own. Although that trial-and-error process can be intimidating, it can also be fun.
Here are some expert-backed tips about how to try weed edibles in a way that’s as safe and (hopefully) enjoyable as possible.
02 Are they right for you?
Edible cannabis products are particularly helpful for some people in managing some health conditions, but they’re not necessarily right for everybody. So, first, think about what you want to get out of this cannabis experience and, maybe with the help of your doctor or a specialist, determine whether an edible is the best way to achieve that.
Even if medical cannabis is legal where you are, it’s understandable that you might not feel super-comfortable talking to your doctor about using it. If that’s not a conversation you want
“The cardinal rule is to start low and go slow”
to have with them or if they aren’t equipped to discuss it in the detail you’d like, you can go to your province’s health department website to find a list of doctors who’re licensed to certify cannabis patients. They’ll be able to provide helpful guidance about using cannabis in your unique situation, which might include edibles.
Inhaling cannabis by smoking or vaporising it will allow the compounds in it to act quickly, but the effects will last only three to four hours, says Dr Jordan Tishler, president of the Association of Cannabis Specialists. “Edibles are the opposite,” he says, likening them to extended-release medications. “They work slowly, but once they work, they last much longer.”
So, weed edibles are a better choice than inhalation for people who need longer-acting effects, such as those dealing with chronic pain or insomnia. But they’re maybe not the best choice for people who need fast-acting relief from conditions such as headaches.
03 It can interfere with some medications
Products that contain cannabis may interfere with other medications you may be taking. “That’s one of my biggest concerns for people who’re using cannabis without consulting a physician or pharmacist,” says Dr Sara Jane Ward, an assistant professor of pharmacology at Temple University in the US who studies pain management with CBD and cannabis. “There are certain interactions where using cannabis can increase or decrease the strength of other medications people are taking.”
Right now, experts know more about this with CBD (cannabidiol), which is one component of cannabis. “CBD relies on the liver to be broken down,” she explains, so if you’re taking other drugs that use the same pathway, that can affect how the body processes them. Both CBD and THC (tetrahydrocannabinol, generally considered to be the main psychoactive compound in cannabis) have been shown in lab studies to affect certain enzymes normally involved in processing many medications, including antidepressants and blood thinners, so cannabis could theoretically alter their functioning.
Unfortunately, there aren’t many studies in this realm. So the bottom line is that if you regularly take medications, it’s a good idea to check with your doctor or a cannabis medicine specialist first.
04 Start with a low dose
The cardinal rule with cannabis (and especially edibles) is to start low and go slow, Dr Ward says, meaning to start with a low dose and wait before taking any more.
When it comes to edibles, 5mg of THC is generally considered a low dose, Dr Tishler says. But if you know you’re more sensitive to substances like this, or you’re anxious about what might happen, you can even start with something as low as 1mg to 2.5mg, Sara adds.
And if you know you want a lower dose to start with, it’s a good idea to choose a product that comes in that specific dose, says Vanessa Niles, who’s an ob-gyn and founder of Synergy Health, a medical cannabis practice. That might be something like a gummy or capsule as opposed to a chocolate bar that you’d need to break up into individual doses yourself, she says.
A more moderate dose would be around 10mg to 15mg, and a high dose would be upwards of 20mg. More experienced cannabis users may need to take 20mg to 30mg to get their desired effects, but most people can get what they’re after between 5mg and 10mg, Dr Tishler says.
The product you’re using should clearly say on the label how much THC it contains so you can take the right dose.