That long anticipated moment in the wonderful world of weed has finally arrived! Edibles have been hitting Canadian shelves since late December 2019. New edible products come in all sorts of exciting and delicious forms including, gummies, fruit chews, chocolates, cookies, tea and even mints! Promises of fancy “spirits type” and wellness influenced sparkling beverages are also rumoured to hit shelves before summer this year.
With these new legal edibles, remember to resist the tendency to self-dose based on past experiences with edibles sourced from the grey market. A grey market brownie claiming to have 25 mg of THC very likely does not contain 25 mg of pure THC distillate. Legal edibles are made using cannabinoid distillates that are highly purified, removing all the natural plant waxes and chlorophyll that tends to come out during the extraction process. These plant compounds contribute to poor taste quality that is generally described as “unpleasant cannabis taste”. The clean cannabinoid distillates used to manufacture legal edibles result in a product that has very little to no detectable “cannabis taste” and is guaranteed to contain the quantities of cannabinoids listed on the label.
More to Consider
One thing that is not immediately apparent, is that dosages differ between cannabis that is inhaled versus cannabis that is consumed orally. Eating or drinking 5 mg of THC is very different from smoking 5 mg of THC. Our bodies metabolize cannabis differently depending on the method of ingestion, among other factors such as body size and tolerance, to name a few. When smoking cannabis, the cannabinoids directly enter our bloodstream via our lungs and can quickly cross the blood brain barrier to act on our brain. This is why the onset of effect is much quicker when smoking cannabis. When consuming cannabis edibles, the cannabinoids must pass through our digestive tract and are then metabolized by our livers. There, THC is converted to 11-hydroxy-THC which results in a high that is generally more intense.
The length of time it takes for our bodies to absorb cannabinoids from our gut is also determined by the amount and type of food, alcohol or other drugs that have been consumed. For this reason, cannabis edibles have a longer effect onset and subsequently, their effect lasts longer than cannabis that is inhaled. For those consuming cannabis for medical purposes, oral products (e.g., chocolates or chews) may be a more suitable option, since there is no smoke inhalation to the lungs (for those smoking it) and the duration of effect is significantly longer than when inhaling cannabis.
Legal edibles on shelves today are legally mandated to contain no greater than 10 mg THC per package. This means a 5 pack of gummies with a total of 10 mg THC, will contain 2 mg of THC per gummy. For those who have never consumed cannabis orally, it is recommended to start with 1-2 gummies (as per the above example) and wait a couple of hours before deciding to eat more. Even those of us who have experience with grey market edibles, it is better to start fresh in terms of determining our personal oral cannabis dosage and tolerance. Cautious consumption is the best way to ensure an enjoyable experience and to prevent you and the couch from becoming one!
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