Smoke Vs. Snack: Why Edible Marijuana Is Stronger Than Smoking

[Wild Bill]

Smoke vs. Snack: Why Edible Marijuana Is Stronger Than Smoking

 

Ever wondered why the effects of a pot brownie feel so much stronger than regular old smoking? Here’s the answer.

 

Eating marijuana tends to produce a stronger and much longer-lasting high than smoking it—one that is often scary to inexperienced users and can be disconcerting to regulars. This has created some controversy in Colorado, as cannabis neophytes consume newly legal “edibles” ranging from ganja brownies to pot-infused salsa.

 

There are two reasons for this. The first is that the pharmacokinetics of marijuana—the way it is absorbed and excreted by the body—are different for smoking and eating it. The second is “set and setting,” the way in which people use it and the expectations they bring—specifically, that it’s much easier to control the dose when smoking.

 

“In a nutshell, eaten cannabis gets metabolized by the liver, so delta-9 THC becomes 11-hydroxy-THC, which passes the blood-brain barrier more rapidly and has more of a psychedelic effect than standard THC,” says Understanding Marijuana author Mitch Earleywine, a professor of psychology at the State University of New York at Albany. “Smoked or vaporized cannabis bypasses the liver and doesn’t create the same 11-hydroxy-THC.”

 

Smoking marijuana gets THC into the body much faster and at higher concentrations, but it stays there much longer after eating. With smoking, as much as 50 to 60 percent of the THC in a joint can get into the blood plasma, and peak concentrations come in 5 to 10 minutes. It “very quickly crosses the blood-brain barrier,” explains Paul Armentano, deputy director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. With orally administered cannabis, only 10 to 20 percent of the cannabinoids reach the blood plasma, and they do so 60 to 120 minutes later, says Dr. Mark A. Ware, an associate professor of family health at McGill University in Montreal.

 

How long a drug stays in the body is usually measured—like radioactivity—by half-life, or how long it takes for half the drug to disappear from the blood. This is complicated to calculate with cannabis, explains Ware, because its metabolites are absorbed into body fat and then can be rereleased into the blood. But THC from smoked marijuana “rapidly dissipates,” while the effects of eating it can last 6 to 10 hours.

 

The key difference is in how it’s metabolized, says Ware. “Anything going through the stomach goes through the liver first,” before it gets into the blood, he explains, a process called first-pass metabolism. Cannabis absorbed through the lungs goes straight to the brain, but is only metabolized by the liver on the second pass. When the liver metabolizes delta-9 THC to 11-hydroxy THC, users feel the “combined effect of the two.”

 

“I don’t know if I’d say it’s more intoxicating,” Ware adds. “It’s just different.”

 

Why people might perceive the effects of eating cannabis to be more intense also has to do with set and setting. As the effects of smoked marijuana can be felt within seconds, even mildly experienced users can generally pick the point where they’ve had enough, a process called “titration.” In contrast, those who eat cannabis have to estimate what the dose they’ve taken will do, and the length of the high means that any unpleasant effects take longer to go away.

 

“People using marijuana medicinally for long-lasting chronic pain often prefer oral ingestion because it lasts longer and they don’t have to consume as often,” says Amanda Reiman, policy manager of the California Drug Policy Alliance. “However, marijuana ingested orally is more difficult to properly titrate dosage due to the increased time of effect onset.”

 

Predicting the effects of an oral dose is “ultimately a crapshoot,” says Armentano. Herbal drugs are difficult to standardize; this was a main reason why the medical use of cannabis, common in the late 19th century, had largely faded by the time the U.S. government enacted prohibitive laws in 1937. In addition, cannabinoids have a “unique pharmacology,” and individuals can have widely varying responses to the same dose.

 

Despite those variations, Ware says, once the patients he’s observed have found a dose that works, they tend to stay with that dose—but they must go through the same trial-and-error process when they get a different batch of cannabis. He recommends “the lowest dose possible to achieve therapeutic effects.”

 

There have been some efforts at standardization. In 2013, Colorado government officials and cannabis-industry representatives agreed to set 10 milligrams of total cannabinoids—THC, CBD, and others—as a standard dosage unit for edibles, with a maximum of 100 mg per item, says Christie Lunsford, who spent six years manufacturing and marketing edibles such as truffles and cannabis-infused soda.

 

The 10-mg level is a reasonable dose for occasional users, she explains, and the levels are laboratory-tested both after the plants are harvested and after the products are manufactured. However, she adds, it is impossible to measure herbal medicines with the same precision as pharmaceuticals, and having to wait for lab results means baked goods can lose freshness. In addition, all edibles sold for the state’s recreational market have to be in child-resistant packaging, and the law will be extended to medical edibles next year.

 

Still, if people are having unpleasant experiences eating marijuana, Armentano urges the public to keep things in perspective. Unlike those who consume too much alcohol or prescription opioids, “they’re not going to suffer any long-term potential harm, toxicity, or lethal overdose,” he says. “It’s not as if people are going to the hospital and having their stomachs pumped.”

 

But to avoid jeopardizing pot’s newly legal status in Colorado and Washington, he advocates that users, growers, and retailers be responsible about what they’re doing. Users need to be aware of what they’re consuming and the effects of mixing it with alcohol, he says, and those in the industry “can’t assume that people are familiar with how to use it and the effects of different doses and methods.”

Edited September 22, 2014 by Wild Bill

[trichcycler]

good article. I'd like to add smoked mj accounts for a very small dose of thc compared to an eaten bit of concentrated active ingredient(s), and  when we eat cannabis its not in the leaf form but processed with solvents/heat, removing many of the "blood brain' barrier breakers, like d-Limonene.

Adding this terpenoid (and/or others) to our medicine post processing can facilitate a dramatic increase in effects either ingested or inhaled comparatively for example.

 

For a complete perspective I believe we would have to study these effects with smoked concentrate compared to ingested concentrate, or smoked flowers compared to ingested flowers, with no other foodstuff mixed in, apples to apples.  imo

 

thanks for the good read!

[jointedone]

Yeah,you edumacated me,Bill.  Thanks. I am an edible supporter.

[Habenero]

I'm not too bright. If the liver metabolizes eaten marijuana does that mean you can get liver damage if you consume too much?

[Wild Bill]

I'm not too bright. If the liver metabolizes eaten marijuana does that mean you can get liver damage if you consume too much?

 

No. It is probably better for your liver than much of the food we eat. Check out the movie Supersize Me.

 

Most drugs are metabolized by the liver. Some of the more dangerous ones are Tylenol and alcohol.

 

Cannabidiol may actually protect your liver from alcohol damage. http://www.theweedblog.com/new-study-marijuana-may-protect-liver-from-alcohol-related-damage/

[Habenero]

I know drugs can give liver damage if you take too much but I'm not talking about drugs. I am wondering if marijuana can cause liver damage if eaten. Even if cannabinoids can help the liver what about the thc? Anyone know about this?

[Wild Bill]

To the best of my knowledge it does not cause liver damage. My liver is one of the few parts of my body that still functions properly and I eating it in one form or another is my sole means of ingestion.

[jointedone]

The liver is like a filter for toxins. I don't know if mj has any natural toxins. If it damaged the liver then why would it be used to treat hep? Very interesting,I've never discussed this before,and am no brainiac on mj. But I do know that for me it has medicinal value for me.

[Habenero]

I read that thc can be bad for the liver if you have hep C. I think it was hep c. One of those anyway. But I don't know, I'm not very bright, just what I read.

[Wild Bill]

There have been studies done that suggest cannabis increases fibrosis in damaged livers. The studies that I have seen were done on long term iv drug users and alcoholics. They smoked cannabis during treatment, so of course the damage was attributed to the cannabis.

 

Here is a study done in Canada on HIV and hep c patients. The methods and controls they used in this study are explained and it seems to me to be more credible than the junk science studies that came up with the opposing view.

 

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3739469/

 

Here is the other side of the story. This study apparently compared daily users with occasional users. Both studies were of smokers not of users of edibles. Judge for yourself.

 

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080128140840.htm

[t-pain]

if there was liver damage caused by marijuana you would see increases of liver damage in states with mmj laws like california and michigan.

 

 

[Norby]

From what I've read the liver is an amazing organ.  If you lost 1/2 your liver in an accident but had no other injuries, it would regenerate in a couple months.  I have read that CBD has got people off insulin because it repairs the pancreas.  With the neuroprotective properties and the neurogenesis, shrinking tumors by apoptosis and cutting off the blood flow and helps with so many other problems, I'd be very very surprised if it didn't help with liver function and not do any damage whatsoever. Hi THC without CBD I don't know but I'd think that people who have used it to treat brain cancer at 1000mg thc a day would've shown some signs by now.  You'd have to show pretty good evidence for me to buy into it.  Why would something with no reasonable LD50 damage the liver?

[imiubu]

I have been a regular cannabis user for 40 years.

I don't have liver problems.

Seems it would have presented by now.

 

 

imo, it is wise to use anything in moderation until you

are aware of the effect.  Even rx's state this on the bottles.

 

Shoot, I get dizzy when I take in too much caffeine or sugar

Certain foods give me a 'high' and others make me feel sleepy.

Common sense is likely a good companion.

For those who have none, we have labeling (we wanted medical).

[33451Bruce]

I eat a "cookie" every single day for my MS pain. I used to smoke until my caregiver gave me some butter to try.

 

Wow! Smoking gets me real high, real fast. But eating a "cookie?"
It gets me real high but comes on slow and lasts much, much longer than smoking.

 

And....I quit cigarettes last March and smoking pot is a major trigger for that. I have smoked a few times in the last couple of months but only when the pain was extreme and I needed instant relief.

 

I want to learn how to make Veg. oil from ground up bud. Many brownie recipes call for oil and not butter. I'm getting kind of tired of peanut butter cookies! : )

[trichcycler]

cover one ounce of buds with a quart of oil. Gently warm, keeping temps under 109 degrees f, for about ten minutes. This will facilitate the melting of the delicate waxy trichome heads, releasing the active ingredients inside. The heat will assist your solute in the miscible compound. let it cool naturally and store the oil in the cupboard. a teaspoon will go along way under a couple eggs in a pan for instance. I highly suggest using orgainc' coconut oil, hemp oil(health food store), olive oil over butter, for best results.

 

a handful of bud over the coffee grounds in a percolator, with a dollop of cream added is stellar for the awakening hours of a brisk winter morning.

 

peace and welcome 33451Bruce

[33451Bruce]

cover one ounce of buds with a quart of oil. Gently warm, keeping temps under 109 degrees f, for about ten minutes. This will facilitate the melting of the delicate waxy trichome heads, releasing the active ingredients inside. The heat will assist your solute in the miscible compound. let it cool naturally and store the oil in the cupboard. a teaspoon will go along way under a couple eggs in a pan for instance. I highly suggest using orgainc' coconut oil, hemp oil(health food store), olive oil over butter, for best results.

 

a handful of bud over the coffee grounds in a percolator, with a dollop of cream added is stellar for the awakening hours of a brisk winter morning.

peace and welcome 33451Bruce

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank You for the welcome. I used to be a member here but my PC crashed and I couldn't remember my username or password. Way too many, from too many sites, to remember.

 

Use an ounce of bud? I was planning on just using what I have left over from my smoking days. About 1/2 ounce. Most of it already has been through my grinder. So, it's shake. I would like to make enough for just 1 batch of brownies. I think I would need 1 to 2 cups of oil. Would 1/2 oz of quality bud (now ground up) be enough? I don't want to waste it nor do I want to make it too strong. Even though, IMO, it can never be too strong. : ) And Thank You all in advance for any/all help.

Edited November 8, 2014 by 33451Bruce

[Wild Bill]

Thank You for the welcome. I used to be a member here but my PC crashed and I couldn't remember my username or password. Way too many, from too many sites, to remember.

 

Use an ounce of bud? I was planning on just using what I have left over from my smoking days. About 1/2 ounce. Most of it already has been through my grinder. So, it's shake. I would like to make enough for just 1 batch of brownies. I think I would need 1 to 2 cups of oil. Would 1/2 oz of quality bud (now ground up) be enough? I don't want to waste it nor do I want to make it too strong. Even though, IMO, it can never be too strong. : ) And Thank You all in advance for any/all help.

See how much oil you need for the brownie recipe and infuse that amount of oil with the 1/2 oz. If they aren't strong enough just eat more brownies.

[trichcycler]

Thank You for the welcome. I used to be a member here but my PC crashed and I couldn't remember my username or password. Way too many, from too many sites, to remember.

 

Use an ounce of bud? Would 1/2 oz of quality bud (now ground up) be enough? .

I'd use two ounces but didn't want to get picked on for my curious conspicuous consumption. I've used a half ounce just

while considering your recipe

If all you have is a half ounce, it has to be enough. there are no rules, only trial and error.

either way, you'll find straining the vegetable matter from your mix before cooking or consuming will

be good.