Eating Medical Marijuana
Eating marijuana for medical uses is becoming a pretty common practice these days. With all the hoopla about quitting smoking and taking care of yourself, people are turning to eating their marijuana more and more.
Eating marijuana is quite a bit different than smoking marijuana, or even vaporizing it. Not only is the ingestion method different, but the effects are usually felt quite differently as well.
How marijuana is absorbed by the body. The information about the cbd for pain absorption is provided to the patients. Different methods are there and the selection of the best one is made. It will offer plenty of benefits to the people. The charges of the products are under the funds available with the people. The habits of smoking weed are reduced with the benefits.
First, let’s look at smoking marijuana, and how it works.
When you smoke marijuana, the smoke enters the lungs upon inhalation and is rapidly absorbed by tiny things called alveoli that line the lungs. These alveolus (plural) are covered in a “fine mesh of capillaries covering about 70%” of their overall area”. These capillaries are a great place for the cannabinoids to enter the blood stream from the smoke. The alveolus are involved in the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide between the lungs and the blood cells.
Since there are over 300 MILLION alveoli in EACH lung (and they are 70% covered in capillaries), they almost instantly allow the THC (and other cannabinoids contained in marijuana smoke) to enter into the bloodstream and become available for uptake by the cannabinoid receptors in various parts of the body. This is the reason that smoking marijuana is the most preferred method of use for those looking for immediate relief (from nausea, extreme pain, spasm etc.). Not only are the cannabinoids almost immediately available with smoking, but more of the cannabinoids are ingested than with many other methods of use.
Another benefit of smoking marijuana vs eating it is; it is much easier to self-titrate (adjust your effective dose) if the effects are felt immediately, or close to it. Basically – once you feel the desired effect, you simply stop smoking in order to maintain a comfortable level of dosage. Not feeling enough effects – take another puff. When the effect starts to wear off, take another etc..
Eating marijuana is different
When eating marijuana however, the body takes a different route in absorption and delivery.
First of all, when eating marijuana, it may take anywhere from 20 minutes – to well over an hour to “kick-in” – with peak plasma concentrations being reached after 1-2 hours (unlike the 3-10 minutes it takes to reach peak levels with inhalation). This amount of time may vary significantly, depending on the users stomach contents, recipe used in the “edible” marijuana, and tolerance level of the individual user (among other factors).
If it takes an hour or more to tell if the dose you just took is enough or not, it could make self-titration very difficult, or impossible. It could also lead to over-consumption (not to be confused with overdose) when a patient inadvertently eats too much (usually resulting in paranoia and or sleep), not realizing that the earlier dose has just not “taken full-effect” yet.
THC, the psychoactive compound responsible for the “high” feeling cannabis gives us (as well as many medical properties), is converted to 11-hydroxy-THC once it is metabolized by the liver.
11-hydroxy-THC is actually MORE psychoactive than THC in it’s inhaled form – even though it is said that less THC is made available when eating it. The less available (but more psychoactive form 11-hydroxy-) THC becomes more active – once processed by the liver. This means that essentially, not only is the effect going to be felt differently, but it is going to last longer (typically much longer than in it’s smoked form) and “peak” differently as well.
Many people say that they feel more of a “full-body” high, or effect when they eat cannabis vs. when they smoke it, and that this effect usually lasts much longer as well.
Ready to try medical marijuana edibles?
Before trying to eat marijuana for the first time, you should know that there are some rules when it comes to using medical marijuana in your food.
Here are a few guidelines to follow when considering marijuana edibles;
Know your source – Either do your homework and make them yourself, or get your edibles from a knowledgeable caregiver or medical marijuana patient. Simply throwing some marijuana in a recipe is not likely to produce the desired results. Moderation at first – Many people react differently – to marijuana edibles, than do other people. Some people report anxiety issues as well as an overall sense of paranoia when eating cannabis edibles. Especially in cases of over-consumption or first-time use! Do your homework – THC is for the most part inactive in it’s natural and raw state, as found in the cannabis plant. It only becomes psychoactive after a process called decarboxylation – which happens while drying and curing or upon heating at a temperature of 300°f for 5 minutes (other below-combustion temperatures and time duration are also reported to be effective). Eating raw marijuana that has not undergone decarboxylation, will not produce the desired result – if looking for psychoactive qualities (juicing raw marijuana leaves may be a GREAT way to get health benefits without getting “high” – google search: “juicing marijuana” for more information). THC is not water soluble – if you are going to use cannabis as a food or beverage, you should know that the cannabinoids you are looking to make use of (THC etc.) – are fat soluble. This means these constituents need to be extracted with, or combined with, a fatty material, or a food or drink high in fatty acids. This is why the most popular method of cooking with cannabis involves first binding the material with butter or oil, and then using the infused butter or oil to cook the final product with.
Once you experiment some and begin to learn your limits with edibles, you may begin to make edible marijuana a regular part of your medicine cabinet. Many people have learned how to effectively use marijuana edibles – to treat their health conditions, and some have even stopped smoking marijuana altogether – choosing the healthier method, which is eating it.
If you are a medical marijuana patient that would like to try marijuana edibles, then consider some of the reading material below. Provide yourself with some basic marijuana science, and then experiment until you find a recipe and method that works best for you.
Oh, and another thing to remember for when you become a marijuana edible enthusiast. Marijuana edibles taste great when made correctly. Be careful not to over-consume your medicated goodies! Medicated munchies DO IN FACT give you the munchies. This could make it easy to polish off a whole plate of cookies, before the first one is finished kicking in. Always have some NON-MEDICATED munchies available for you and your guests, and offer them up in between doses. This will help ensure that everyone involved has a good time and enjoys the great medibles you have provided.
