Louisiana has a comprehensive medical marijuana program, offering a variety of cannabis products for qualifying patients to choose from.
Edibles are one type of cannabis product that comes with special dosing rules, and not following the rules of dosing edibles can land you in deep waters.
Edibles can be significantly stronger than traditional cannabis products, and they act on a different timeline than nearly all other products.
It’s important to know how to properly dose edibles as a medical marijuana patient, and in this article, we’ll cover how to dose edibles, how to make sure you don’t over consume edibles, and how to have the best experience with cannabis edibles!
Why Edibles Are Different from Other Cannabis Products
Edibles Are Stronger Than Many Other Cannabis Products
Edibles aren’t like other cannabis products.
Regular cannabis products like inhaled cannabis flower, concentrates, or tinctures are absorbed into the body through a more rapid, more direct pathway.
THC needs to get into the bloodstream for it to travel to the central nervous system, where it will find its home in receptors throughout the endocannabinoid system.
For inhaled cannabis products like cannabis flower or concentrates, that happens through the lungs. For tinctures, it happens through the tissue under the tongue that directs THC straight to the bloodstream.
Edibles, however, send THC through the liver before it gets transported to its final destination, and the liver handles THC very differently than the rest of your body.
When THC is processed through the liver it creates a new compound called 11-hydroxy-THC, a metabolite that is notably stronger than traditional THC (reportedly 10x stronger).
That’s why the high from edibles can feel so different and strong because it is a different psychoactive compound that is producing the intense effects, not just THC.
Edibles Take Longer to Kick in & Last Longer Too
Alongside the increased strength of THC from edibles, the high lasts longer too.
The normal duration of experience with products like cannabis flower or concentrates are 30 minutes – 1 hour, though the high from edibles can be as short as 1 hour and as long as 8 or more hours.
That adds a bit of difficulty when trying to time your doses and measure your dosage size because too much will be too potent and last too long, and for small doses, you might not be able to determine whether your dose is large enough for up to an hour or more.
This is where most people make the mistake of double dosing edibles because after they take an edible and it doesn’t provide strong enough effects, they take another dose.
This is a grave mistake, and nearly every horror story that starts with “I took too many edibles” can be avoided by simply waiting longer or starting with the right dosage size to begin with.
If the first dose activates after you take your second dose, you’ll be in for a ride that’s twice as strong, and this may be unpleasant for some people. That’s why knowing your dosage size and your dosage limits is important, and it can take a little experimenting to get the dose perfect.
How to Dose Cannabis Edibles
Start Slow & Be Patient, You Can Never Wait Too Long With Edibles
The most important part of dosing cannabis edibles is knowing your minimum effective dose.
Your minimum effective dose will provide you the maximum amount of relief with as limited side effects as possible, and each person will have their own minimum effective dosage.
To find your minimum effective dosage, all you need are some edibles and time.
Start by taking the lowest dose possible (typically ¼ of one 10mg edible, or, 2.5mg) and wait for the longest time possible before adding another dose.
Typically, 4 – 6 hours will be an appropriate amount of time to determine the level of effects from a low dose of edibles, though biology will play the biggest role in how your system tolerates edibles.
Pro Tip: It’s best to set aside a few days to a week with limited activity to find your minimum effective dosage. Edibles can last a long time so it’s best to have some large blocks of time allocated for the duration of the experience. If the dose becomes too strong, it’s time to back off from that level and step down to the previous dosage size.
For some patients, only very low doses are required to produce extremely intense effects while other patients will need much larger doses, and the goal is to start with the smallest dose possible and increase until you’ve found your perfect balance.
Timing Your Edibles & Staying Within Your Limits
Edibles usually start to take effect within 30 minutes to 1 hour, though your biology and the edible itself will determine exactly when it begins to start producing effects.
Some edibles will come on sooner while others can take more than an hour to begin producing effects, and the duration of onset and potency will be highly variable between products and people.
So, once you’ve got your minimum effective dosage down, make a little room for each individual product to find the right balance, some products may take a little longer to take effect and each product can produce more or less intense effects, so allow yourself some leeway to prevent over consuming edibles.
After some experimenting and finding your minimum effective dosage, you’ll have a good handle on how long or short it takes for them to kick in, and a better concept of the potency that each dosage size will offer you.
Remember that each edible can vary in potency, duration, and time of onset, even if they’re the same dosage size. Dosing edibles doesn’t have to be difficult, and you can easily avoid over consuming edibles by being patient and taking your time.
Get Your Louisiana Medical Marijuana Certification
Louisiana’s medical marijuana program makes edibles available for patients with qualifying conditions. To receive a medical marijuana certification from a doctor, patients must be diagnosed with a condition that a physician believes will improve with the use of cannabis, and you can even get your medical marijuana card online in Louisiana!
Getting a medical marijuana card in Louisiana is easier than ever, beat the lines and get your medical marijuana certification in Louisiana today, and you can even get certified for medical marijuana online for ease of use and convenience.
For questions about Louisiana’s medical marijuana program, or how to become a medical marijuana patient in Louisiana, consult with one of our trusted doctors and book an online medical marijuana appointment today!
Doctors Who Care.
Relief You Can Trust.
At Louisiana Marijuana Card, our mission is helping everyone achieve wellness safely and conveniently through increased access to medical marijuana. Our focus on education, inclusion, and acceptance will reduce the stigma for our patients by providing equal access to timely information and compassionate care.
Call us at (833) 253-2943, or simply book a medical marijuana evaluation to start getting relief you can trust today!
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