Everything you wanted to know about edibles but were afraid (or too old) to ask
After my second child arrived, it grew clear that I could not party the way I used to. I was hardly Tommy Lee in my prime, and once I hit my 40s, even a few glasses of wine would ruin my sleep and make me sluggish the next day. My idea of recreational substances gradually became Melatonin and IcyHot.
But then, people began talking about edibles at my book club, a neighborhood barbecue, on the sidelines at Little League. At first, I felt like a prudish auntie: Drugs? Heavens! No, people explained: marijuana-infused gummies and chocolates, the kinds of things you can now legally buy at Massachusetts dispensaries. (If I sound sheltered, that’s because I am.)
Recently, a friend confessed that she’d visited our neighborhood dispensary, described her needs, and was offered a “mom starter pack” chocolate bar designed for relaxation and optimal TV viewing: the ultimate bespoke experience. She did eat too much and ended up flat on her back, unable to get up to brush her teeth. But it wasn’t altogether unpleasant. Next time, she’ll just portion better.
With the risks of alcohol usage making more headlines — alcoholrelated deaths in the United States have spiked by 30 percent in recent years — the normalization and popularity of cannabis products seems logical.
“I’ve been seeing that tilt toward gummies becoming much more popular and sort of replacing wine o’clock,” says psychiatrist Samata Sharma, MD, Medical Director of the Eliza Dushku Palandjian and Peter Palandjian Bridge Clinic at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
“This is what parents are leaning into to replace their evening wine,” says Sareena Halani, who operates the new Herbwell Cannabis Dispensary in North Cambridge, which frequently collaborates with local restaurants for cannabis-focused culinary events.
Are you curious about edibles? Are you naïve like me? I asked
Halani and Sharma what to keep in mind.
It’s not risk-free. “Decriminalization and legalization of something is not necessarily indicative of risk or lack thereof. This is not to say that it’s inherently risky for someone to have a gummy every now and then. I do think it becomes something that you want to pay closer attention to if you feel a need to have one every single day, or if the amount that you need is creeping up,” Sharma says.
Also: Keep it away from your kids! In 2023, the medical journal Pediatrics chronicled a disturbing increase in accidental childhood consumption of edibles in kids under 6.
Know the difference between THC and CBD. These are cannabinoids,
compounds found in cannabis. They have very different effects. THC (tetrahydro-cannabinol) is the psychoactive chemical in cannabis. This is what can make music sound better, art look weirder, or things seem funnier. It might also make you anxious or panicky.
“THC causes euphoria. It can also cause some degree of impairment in balance, coordination, and memory,” Sharma says.
THC can also cause an increase in heart rate or blood pressure, leading some people (um, me at a frat party in 1999) to feel unpleasantly nervous. As THC increases dopamine, it can also make users more alert.
“It might make you more euphoric, but that coupled with the direct increase in heart rate and blood pressure, the physiological effects of THC sometimes tilt people into panic,” Sharma explains.
CBD, on the other hand, lacks psychoactive properties and is not believed to be addictive.
“Anecdotally, people say that they use it to relax. It might have some medical uses long-term in modulating effects of PTSD and potentially acting as a prescription-based anxiolytic, but those are still in the pipeline,” Sharma says. “We have fairly good mid- to longer-term evidence on how THC alters the brain and its potentially therapeutic as well as potentially detrimental and its addictive properties. We don’t have that long-term data on CBD, but mechanistically, we know that CBD doesn’t activate the same sort of reward pathways in the brain, so it’s not considered to be addictive.”
Halani encourages customers to ask about the terpene content of each product, too. These chemical compounds give cannabis its aroma and have different effects on different people. Some might make you feel energized; some might make you edgy.
Shop wisely. Indica and sativa are the two main types of cannabis. At Herbwell, the experience is similar to a wine shop: Say what you prefer, and a knowledgeable staffer will steer you toward the right section. They even have an effect wall: Do you want to levitate? Chill? Thrive? Creative types might explore sativaheavy products, with more THC; if relaxation is the goal, a CBD-forward indica product is better.
“THC gives you a little bit more of that psychoactive high, whereas CBDs give you a little bit more of a body high,” Halani explains. “We always say cannabis is a journey, and it’s different for each individual.”
She sees parents leaning toward their “discover” indica product line.
“This just relaxes your body a little bit, whether it’s a movie night or after a long day of work, or you want some TLC. It’s great for self-care, pain relief, Netflix, chill, unwinding,” she says.
Start slow. Edibles seem innocuous, but it’s tempting to eat too much because the effects can come on slowly.
“Sometimes, it could take anywhere from 45 minutes to two hours to actually feel something. And in the meantime, it’s often easy to assume you don’t feel anything. Then you eat more and then you’re lying on the floor,” Halani says.
Generally, edibles come in 100 milligrams of cannabinoid per packet, and each serving is about 5 milligrams. Consider starting with 2.5. Now, there are also fast-acting edibles, which take effect within 15 minutes.
“We have certain ones where you can micro-dose. This is a great example of something that I’ll recommend for beginners. We have little chocolates that look like M&Ms, and they’re only 1.3 milligrams. You kind of know within 15 to 20 minutes how you’ll feel,” Halani says.
Overdose is unlikely. “[This means] you’ve taken enough medication to cause a fatal result. Can you die? Unlikely. I don’t even think I’ve heard of a case study of someone overdosing on just marijuana. It’s usually someone with an underlying cardiac instability who took marijuana with other things,” Sharma says.
That said, you could become uncoordinated, sleepy, or otherwise impaired, leading to unsafe behavior. Oh, and you could still feel panicky or unpleasantly out of control. If you’re trying edibles for the first time, be in an environment that feels familiar, like your couch.
If you start to feel unwell, “Use a distraction tool if you don’t want to focus on breathing. A lot of people don’t like breathing exercises because focusing too much on breathing can make you feel more anxious,” Shanta says.
Then, wait it out. Of course, if you’re growing acutely ill or confused, summon medical help.
If you take SSRIs, use caution.
Many people take selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors — such as Prozac, Lexapro, or Zoloft — to regulate mood. While Sharma says that mixing is “definitely not something we’d recommend doing,” many people do combine them safely.
“SSRIs in general tend to be relatively inert in their side-effect profile in terms of their interaction with other medications, but the rate of panic attack is one thing that we’ve noted with people who take SSRIs and also use marijuana. Could it be because they’re just at baseline more anxious, and they’re taking their SSRI for that? Maybe. Or could it be an interaction between the two drugs,” she says.
The biggest takeaway for the cannabis-curious?
“I completely and utterly understand the need, at some point, for parents to de-stress,” Sharma says. “It’s a trend. It’s not going away. It’s legal the same way the use of wine is, but I would say to be judicious in the same way.”