Cannabis edibles are becoming more popular with time. They are a delightful treat and effective. With edible cannabis, you can get high but differently. It doesn’t require you to vape or smoke. Cannabis edibles offer an alternative way to enjoy the advantages that cannabis has to offer. Edibles can be beverages or food containing a certain amount of cannabis in every serving. These include baked goods, hard candies, coffee, chocolates, granola, and more. Edible can be used for a wide array of reasons. Based on the cannabis you are using, edible will help you ease pain, relax, and boost your energy. 

However, often you will find someone in a group, who bites into a brownie and frowns claiming that the edibles don’t work for them. There are many who feel mega THC cookies or super-strength gummies consumption don’t make them feel anything.

In this article, we will go through the details to find out why they do not work for some and how to find an effective consumption dosage.

First, let’s find out how it really works.

How Do Edibles Work?

Consuming THC has a largely different effect on the body. To understand how it works, you have to understand the decarboxylation process. It is the cannabis plant’s raw natural form containing THCA, the forerunners of THC molecules. These are the chemical compounds related to getting you high. THCA doesn’t have psychoactive properties. So, consuming a large amount of cannabis will contribute little to getting you high. 

When THCA is exposed to the right amount of heat it turns to THC. Heat can remove the chain of carboxylic acid that is attached to THCA preventing it from fitting into the cannabinoid receptors in humans. This allows it to reach its optimum psychoactive potential and get you high. 

When you are smoking cannabis, this step is unnecessary since heat is created as the cannabis burns. This, in turn, decarbs your marijuana as you smoke it. So, when it comes to edibles, the decarbing process is part of what gets you high. 

Most consumers claim that edibles have a stronger and longer high than vaping or smoking the same amount of cannabis. As described, the primary difference lies in how you ingest weed and your metabolism.

Your body will process the edibles in a different way. In case you vape or smoke, you inhale vapor or smoke. The active compounds like THC get absorbed into the bloodstream and transmitted to the brain. This is why you feel high within just a few minutes. 

As you consume the cannabinoids, it gets absorbed through the intestines. Thus, cannabinoids move around the liver prior to reaching the bloodstream. On a biochemical level, the effects spread out from the liver into your body.

So, edibles take about 30 minutes to 2 hours to show their effects. When you are consuming them, you have to be really patient. In case more than 3 hours have passed, and you still don’t observe any effect, you might have consumed an extremely low dose of cannabinoids. 

You don’t get it right with the edibles in the first go. It is all about experimenting so that edibles get you high. You have to work out what dosage is ideal for you. The best way to start with it is to start slow and low. Increase your dose eventually. 

Apart from the dosage, the effect also varies with the individual. A person with low THC insusceptibility and who hasn’t eaten all day might feel the effect more intensely than a long-term user who just had his food.

Cannabis Edibles With A Low Dose May Be The Reason Why You Don’t Feel The Effects

One of the primary reasons why edibles aren’t working is because there is not enough cannabis in the dosage. Some people need a higher dosage than others to get high. In case you are unable to attain the desired high with a single dose, try increasing the amount, gradually. 

Another common problem is using the wrong kind of edible. Remember, not all edible cannabis get you high as they are not the same. The kind of cannabis present in the edible plays a major role. Some cannabis strains are higher in CBD, while others are higher in THC. The incorrect balance of these cannabinoids is known to have an effect on your experience. So, you might not feel the effects you are expecting.

Your Body Metabolizes Marijuana Edibles Slower Than When Smoking It

Like already mentioned, consuming and smoking cannabis are different. If you have tried both, you will know how different they can be. But, you might wonder why? 

When smoking cannabis, the chemical gets absorbed via our lungs into the blood in just a few minutes, and then it travels to your brain, giving you the high-effect. But eating cannabis means it will be digested by the stomach first and then processed by the liver. This produces something known as an 11-Hydroxy metabolite, which is known to be significantly more psychoactive than THC. Especially for individuals or patients with a low THC tolerance, this can feel overwhelming when being used to smoking cannabis.

While the process of metabolizing marijuana edibles is slow, eating cannabis can leave you feeling high for up to 8 hours and more. The effects of edible cannabis vary and depend on the individual’s THC tolerance and metabolism.

To Feel The Effects Faster Try Cannabis Tinctures

When you are consuming edibles, you might be curious to find out how fast its effects can kick in. By taking tinctures under the tongue, you can experience the effects much sooner depending on your metabolism. Tinctures allow for quick cannabis absorption without vaporizing or combusting weed. You get them in small bottles. Tinctures do not have a potent aroma, and you can use them almost anytime you want. 

Since tinctures are used sublingually, they are absorbed more rapidly than edibles. It can transmit active components into your bloodstream easily through your mouth’s lining, which is faster than waiting for the liver. So depending on your metabolism, you will see the effects within 15-30 minutes.

Feeling Anxious? Avoid Taking Cannabis Edibles On An Empty Stomach

For a few people, edibles might cause you to feel something. It might not be the type of high they were expecting. Rather than feeling relaxed, they feel anxious. One of the primary reasons behind this is taking them on an empty stomach. 

Even though it might take longer to hit your body than vaping or smoking, consuming edibles with an empty stomach might cause THC to affect you rapidly than consuming it after eating something. 

In case you are consuming edibles and feeling anxious, you should try having it after a proper meal and drinking plenty of water. This will slow down the absorption process and will keep you from getting overwhelmed by THC.

How To Dose Marijuana Edibles Properly When Making Them

To make edible cannabis, you can get creative in the kitchen. Some freshly baked cannabis-infused cookies sound enticing. If you do not have a clear understanding of how much THC content is in your cannabis, it is nearly impossible to make a calculated decision when making the batch. To dose your edibles properly you need to know how much THC you will add to the batch. Assuming that you evenly distributed the cannabis, make sure to divide your batch into pieces. In other words, if you add 200mg THC oil into your brownies and you manage to divide the batch into 10 equal pieces, each brownie piece should carry about 20mg.

It also helps to know about decarboxylation. This is the reason manufacturers need to follow strict system requirements to make sure all your edibles have the needed quantity of THC mentioned on the package. If you are new to this method, the recommended dose is 1-5 milligrams of THC. This is a very small amount of THC taking into account the weed edible itself can weigh 20 grams.

Even though many self-directed and recreational consumers have developed a high tolerance to THC, consuming a high dose is neither necessary nor good for patients to get relief. Low doses are great. It helps you avoid increasing tolerance and other side effects.

Inconsistencies In The Batch May Lower Edible Effectiveness

One of the primary issues of purchasing edibles from the black market is inconsistencies. This is the reason why new consumers get wary of edibles and find the effects to be so unpredictable. The question is, why do you experience inconsistent effects when consuming cannabis?

Prior to the increase in lab testing, edibles were difficult to dose accurately during production. So, two individual doses from the same edible could lead to widely different results. This is due to the dissimilar infusion of compounds. 

Moreover, not knowing the cannabis material to start with and the infusion type makes it difficult to predict its effects. The good news is edible companies in the states where cannabis had been made legal are taking steps to address these problems. 

The biggest step taken to produce consistent edible is the state requirement to lab test different system stages of edible production. Thus, it is easier to know the dose for complete edible and the serving sizes for individual doses. 

Many edible companies are taking the step to make sure repeated cannabis experience is the use of informed and consistent starting material. Also, many edible makers are paying close attention to the ‘Entourage Effect’ of the cannabis experience and planning their formulation considering these interactions. 

While cannabis consumption is effective for many people, it isn’t for everyone.