Marijuana-infused munchies

Cheech and Chong may have wasted their ill-spent youth “Up in Smoke.” But they didn’t have a clue about the kind of edible marijuana treats that would flood the marketplace in their old age. In the 1960s, there were only homemade hash brownies, thanks to “The Alice B. Toklas Cookbook” with the recipe for Hashish Fudge. These days there are marijuana-infused cookies, gummies, hard candies, pizza, chips, trail mix, ice cream, sodas, coffees, teas, energy drinks and condiments.

As lighthearted as that all sounds, docs writing in the Canadian Medical Association

Journal are sounding the alarm, since folks are not aware that ingested pot can take up to four hours to make its effects felt — so you eat and eat, trying to get a buzz, and end up overdosing. The effects can linger for up to eight hours, impairing driving, thinking and walking for a long, long time.

Add to that the risk that pets and kids will gobble down the treats and end up poisoned by the toxic levels of THC they contain. An adult serving of an edible might be one gummy bear (that equals one joint), or one square of chocolate. A kid or pet might eat a bunch or a whole bar and experience dizziness, paranoia, anxiety, hallucinations, difficulty breathing and panic attacks.

So if you’re somewhere that edibles are legal (11 states allow recreational marijuana and 20 OK medical pot), be cautious when ingesting or skip it altogether! Always make sure you keep them away from kids and pets!