What’s All The Hype About Edibles And Are They Better Than Smoking ?
Go to any well stocked dispensary these days and you’re likely to be overwhelmed by the plethora of choices when it comes to their in-stock selection of both dry herb (buds typically sold and used for smoking) and medibles (cannabis-infused food or drink).
One Ingestion Method (Smoking Or Eating) Isn’t Better Than The Other But They Are Different And Offer Different Benefits.
So what’s all the hype about cannabis infused food?
Also known as medicated edibles or more simply as edibiles, you quickly realize that this isn’t like your typical candy or bakery section at your local grocery store.
Yet, all your favourite treats will be similarly represented.
You’ll face the gauntlet of cookies, brownies, chocolate bars, gummies of every description, tarts, squares, ice cream, cake, soda pop, candied nuts and hard candies.
All infused with cannabis at different doses per serving or portion-size and (if you’re in a reputable place) labeled with the amount of active ingredients per suggested serving size.
( In the photo (above) you can see what an 1/8th of a cup of cannabis infused coconut oil looks like. I use this much cannabis infused oil to comfortably medicate 12 cookies.)
Edibles infused with cannabis are prized for a few reasons:
- First, they’re stronger. The cannabis that’s used to make the edible is typically decarboxylated (in advance) before it’s baked into the candy or food.
This process takes the herb from its raw form and converts it into a more medicinally active form.
Then once the food or candy is digested by the gut, the liver converts it again. (For those of you who are “into” molecules, we’ve gone from THCa to 9-THC, then onto 11-THC.)
This makes an “edible” high a different high than one achieved through the inhalation of plant vapour.
Even if you smoked a fattie by your damn-self, an equal dose in an edible will always be stronger.
Once the liver makes the conversion, the high is 10 X (times) stronger to be precise.
Speaking from 10+ years of daily edible consumption, I can honestly say that the high is a completely different high than what you experience when you smoke the herb. It physically feels different and it’s stronger.
- As edibles have to be processed digestively, they are also prized for the fact that they produce a very long lasting high. This is dependent on the strength of the edible and how many doses are taken, but it is not uncommon for the effects of an ”edible”high to be felt for up to 8 hours.
Digestive processes differ between people. Some people’s systems are faster than others. On average, it takes about 2 hours from the time an edible is ingested until the high starts to be detectable. For this reason it is recommended to consume the dose you want and then wait 2 hours before you decide if you want to eat any more.
- Most edibles are odour-less. This makes them incredibly discreet.
- Edibles can carry a high amount of potent medicine in a small portion. This is desirable for both ease of portability and for ease of ingestion. No special gear is required and it can be as simple as sipping a cup of medicated tea or slowly melting a piece of infused chocolate under your tongue.
- Lastly, edibles are prized for their ability to maintain a baseline of consistent benefits (with regular dosing ) in the body. This is particularly beneficial for anyone who uses the herb for chronic pain management.
By keeping a small amount of edible in the body (fairly consistently) it doesn’t take as much smoke or vapour to top up the levels of relief if “break-through” pain is experienced (at any given time).
Often a portable (pre-loaded oil-concentrate) vape pen is all that’s needed to boost the edible’s pain-relieving effects (if it wanes between doses).
( In the photo (above) you can see a very slender, discrete concentrate vape pen. It’s just a little bit longer than a ball-point pen. )
I welcome your comments and I invite you to follow me on my journey....taking the fear out of using the herb, one toke or bite at a time. Lol! ;)
~ Rebecca
PS: Check out the Smoke Network if you haven’t already.
https://smoke.network
https://smoke.io
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Hi @markush! Thanks for your comments. Yes, you are corrrect. It's a different molecule after your liver gets finished processing 9-THC and converts it to 11-THC. It also binds to different receptors which we have throughout our bodies (around muscles, joints and organs).
This makes it an entirely different "high". It's stronger and lasts longer.
There are distinct benefits that smoking the herb offers and distinct benefits that eating it offers. I think this is worthy of another post to highlight the benefits of each...stay tuned. LOL!
I am choosing edibles for myself, more and more. With experience, I've worked out a dosage that settles me without overdoing it and ending with me napping all day. As a medical user, I'm looking for the minimum effective dosage (MED) almost every time.
When needed (i.e., most days), a tiny dab of RSO, taken orally with no added heat, does the trick for me. I end up with a long-lasting effect that relieves my symptoms with minimal side effects, and without the inconveniences that go along with smoking.
Personally, I like smoking herb, but with smoking comes secondhand smoke, and that requires a certain etiquette if nothing else. You have to think about who else is in the house, or might be soon. You have to think about how your clothes will smell wherever you might go in the next few hours.
With edibles, you just need to eat something early, then deal with your day. Once you've determined your MED, you can just consume any baked good with a definite dosage of cannabinoids, or even a very small amount of RSO or distillate. That can even be in capsule, making it easy to add to your daily regimen of vitamins and/or other meds.
I find this especially helpful with CBD capsules in the early morning, then sometimes a little THC in the afternoon. But edibles (with a determined dosage) allow users to regulate their cannabis consumption in a similar way to any other prescriptions.
I couldn't agree more with your MED dosing strategy @olyup!
I ate RSO the same way you have described for about 6 years, before I started making other edible forms.
RSO is completely activated (already converted to 9-THC) so no additional heat is required and you can simply just eat it. To use preventatively, a tiny amount (less than the size of a grain rice) is where I would start for anyone who decides they might want to try eating RSO. :)
I like to keep a minimum amount of plant medicine in my body and then top up if and when I need it
Awesome post :) love it!
So, I mostly smoke, and smoked for years and years without really ever having proper edibles. Even in Amsterdam I had some edibles there and barely felt any affect.
Recently, I have been having some proper edibles, and well... I definitely feel the power haha! I had a couple squares from a chocolate bar a few times and loved it, I did eat half a brownie from a dispensary and really felt the difference in high. I need to watch it with consumption as still a edible novice in some ways, I feel it’s easy to take more than necessary! I was surprised how strong it could be and how different too!
I love smoking and the feel of it, but now I want to really just try and vape or ingest :)
Thanks for this post! Great food for thought!
Thanks for your great comment @sunsethunter!
This has got to be one of the biggest hurdles...getting a consistent level of activated cannabis evenly distributed all the way through an edible so that each portion is the same. I am seeing this inconsistency everywhere...and even in Amsterdam as you have noticed. What really works well is to use a small dose of an edible and then vape to top levels up as the edible high or intensity of effects start to fade. There’s a real art to medicating and hovering around your sweet spot or best dose. This supports optimal function instead of being incapacitated. Practice, practice, practice. Lol!
No problem I’m glad you liked it @rebeccaryan and thank you for the very informative and educated post! Cool that sounds like a good method with topping up with the vape once the edible veins to wear off, I will have to try it :) yes that’s the thing with edibles I found it was fairly easy to become incapacitated (if your a beginner with edibles that is).
I’m more than ok to keep on practicing to find my sweet spot ;)
Look forward to more great posts :)
I make weed ice cream myself. The main problem is it's possible to not eat too much.
Hahaha! I can relate to this @howweroll!
Especially tricky with ice cream because it's also a very high fat medium. Cannabis is fat soluble which means that it requires fat to be absorbed so ice cream is a VERY EFFICIENT delivery mechanism to get cannabis plant medicine into your body. High fat and activated cannabis offers beautiful synergy. ;)
I honestly love edibles! I have recently gone vegan though so going to have to look into some new options!
I really appreciated your comment @scarlettzion!
I actually am planning to write a post specifically about eating with intention when it comes to ingesting plant medicine. We haven't made the leap yet with edibles that are "sustainable or responsible" from a health-conscious perspective and this is a huge disconnect. Most edibles are made to appeal to the "indulgent-side of life" or for the "sweet-loving" crowd. Huge amounts of animal-derived fats and proteins are predominantly used, along with refined sugar, hydrogenated oils, and grains. Exactly the opposite ingredients needed to support optimal health.
after literally crawling on the earth for two days after ingesting too much edible lol!.. i tend to take very light doses and opt to smoke instead. i find it can be difficult to take the right dosage and as you say it lasts longer and is stronger.. i didn't quite like the feeling of dragging along the earth for those days. i've also made tinctures and find that that is a little easier to dose than edibles or fat infusions, but they can still last an uncomfortably strong and long amount! definitely a thing to dose accordingly! but god those brownies look so good!!
Hi @moutainjewel! Thank you for sharing your edible experience and taking a minute to comment. I would say that what you have shared is the "norm" for many folks and learning to dose properly for the comfort of your body is a goal that is worth striving for. There are a few factors at play with edibles. Body chemistry, the health of the G/I tract and its micro-biome, how much fat is available and genetics all play a role. My husband is 8 inches taller than I and weighs 60 lbs more...I can eat, vape and smoke him under the table every single day of the week....this isn't a great thing and I'm not bragging about this fact. He has more available receptor sites open than I do and has indigenous genetics in his blood-line. The point is, you cannot look at someone and determine dose by body height, mass, aliment or gender. It (cannabis edibles) aren't dosed like other pharmaceuticals. It's all trial and error and individual to each person. Different strains of the plant and how it was grown and prepared are also major factors. ;)
Great informative post. Love the pictures - someone is a great cook!
I have been doing some research on this the last few days and am finding consistency in potency being the major challenge.
For medicinal purposes I believe the tincture to be the easiest to control, would you agree? The tincture made the old fashioned way - alcohol such as vodka and kept for a few weeks in a dark cupboard shaken everyday.
Thats if people did not desire the psycho-active side effects and were purely after the cannabinoid health benefits.
Any tips appreciated - thanks 😁
Hi @lovelivinglife! Thank you so much for your comments and question.
I prefer to make infusions in a carrier oil (like MCT coconut oil) over alcohol tinctures or suspensions. This is because cannabis and all its cannabinoids are fat soluble and require fat to be absorbed. Without fat in the equation, the body can't absorb all of the available medicine. Also, there is another reaction that occurs between alcohol and cannabis...it doesn't make that much difference with only a little bit of tincture but when mixed with a glass of wine or a beer, the cannabis makes it feel like you've consumed 6 glasses...it (cannabis) accelerates the effects of alcohol. This is called cross-fading and needs to be undertaken with great care, if it's practiced at all. :)
Thanks for replying.
Am I correct in believing that the heat generated in producing the coconut oil will activate the THC, whereas the alcohol tincture, not being heated will only produce the THC- A?
I am really happy with the coconut oil I have made but the coconut oil I used solidifies which isnt easy to dispense.
If I didnt want the active THC and wanted to give the tincture to someone medcinally, would I just then have to mention not to take whilst consuming alcohol?
I do appreciate your insight - thanks 😁
I think this is the case but I have never tested the validity of it because when I have made an alcohol based tincture, I have always decarbed my cannabis first to fully activate it. If you do the decarb first, you’ll pull more medicine out of the plant. This is the same when you make your coconut oil infusion, if you decarb the cannabis first, then make your infusion you’ll pull way more medicine out of your herb. Also, if you switch to medium chain triglyceride coconut oil (from long chain) your infusion will stay in a liquid state and absorb faster once eaten. :)
Thanks - much appreciated.
I am choosing edibles for myself, more and more.Eventhough i smoke my weed, in stead of eating. I think smoking especially with tabacco is bad for your lungs/teeth/skin. I can not imagine that weed in your stomach does any damage. Health wise, eating is much better (imo)
I agree. The next piece is making more health-conscious edibles with ingredients that match the capability of the herb...instead of being over loaded with sugar and wheat.
@ rebeccaryan..........i just honestly say ,,,,,,,,,,,,,totally great article about (smoking vs eating).......you are submit the best thought..........i really appreciate you.........carry on..all the best......
Thank you @abontikazaman!
Great post for me because I don't like smoking ... Thanks for sharing
I also follow you to get more beautiful posts from you. Thanks again
Edibles are a great option for those who prefer not to smoke. You just have to learn how to dose them for your own body's chemistry. Start with a very small dose. It's unique for each person and can only be determined through trial and error.