Everything You Need to Know About Cannabis Edibles

Features

• Everything you need to know about consuming edibles
• Important tips to ensure you have a happy, fun experience
• Guidelines for the best ways to make and dose homemade edibles

Why You Will Love This Guide

Have you tried edibles before?

Maybe you had a weed brownie in college and had a horrible experience.

Or maybe you’ve heard horror stories about an edible experience gone wrong.

Edibles can be a wonderful way to consume cannabis, but they can also have some unwanted side effects if you don’t know what you’re getting yourself into first.

But don’t worry, the good news is I’m here to help!

Members of my Well With Cannabis Community love edibles for many reasons.

But predicting an edibles experience can be tricky sometimes and it can be hard to find your perfect dose.

By following my recommendations here in this guide, you can be prepared to have an experience that is safe, positive, rewarding, and most importantly – safe and enjoyable.

Edibles Can Feel Stronger

Delta-9THC edibles can produce stronger, more potent effects compared to other ways to use cannabis, like tinctures, topicals, or inhalation.

There are even reports of people who feel like they have hallucinated as a result of consuming too much THC.

This experience is due to the way the liver processes the THC.

Once THC has been is eaten and digested, it travels to the liver where it is turned into 11-OH-THC (11-hydroxytetrahydrocannabinol).

This 11-OH-THC compound is a potent, psychoactive metabolite that readily crosses the blood-brain barrier, creating strong intoxicating effects.

This is why it is important to not over consume THC when eating edibles.

On the flip side, a small portion of the population reports feeling no effect from cannabis edibles at all. 

This could be because they lack the enzyme (or enough of the enzymes) needed to convert Δ9-THC → 11-OH-THC.

Safety Considerations

Consuming cannabinoids like THCA, CBDA, CBD, CBN, or CBG in food does not pose a big risk, because they do not produce intoxicating effects.

But consuming too much delta-8 THC or delta-9 THC can pose a risk for experiencing some unpleasant symptoms.

The most common unwanted side effects of consuming too much THC include: 

• Disorientation or dizziness
• Short-term memory issues
• Slow reaction time
• Drowsiness
• Anxiety
• Heart-palpitations
• Tachycardia (rapid heartbeat)
• Increased appetite with dry mouth
• Red eyes
• Diarrhea

The best way to avoid experiencing these unwanted symptoms is to limit the amount of THC you consume.

Edibles Last Longer

It can take a long time to feel the effects of weed edibles compared to other ways to use cannabis. 

Edibles are slower to take effect because they need time to travel through the digestive system.

The onset time can range from 30 minutes to 2 hours, depending on the individual. 

While the effects are delayed, they tend to manifest stronger and last longer.

The effects can last anywhere from 6 to 8 hours or more, although this varies from person to person and is dose dependent.

Other factors such as body weight, medical conditions, and what else you ate, can also how long edibles will stay in your system.

For this reason, it is important not to consume the second dose of edibles in a short amount of time if you’re not feeling the desired result.

It is recommended to wait at least 2 hours before attempting to consume a second dose.

If you consume a second dose too quickly, say 30 minutes after initial consumption, you run the risk of over-consuming and experiencing unwanted effects.

Dosing Recommendations

Cannabis affects everyone differently due to our unique endocannabinoid systems.

Unfortunatley, this means that there is no such thing as standard dosing recommendations.

You and your identical twin could consume the same amount of THC and have drastically different experiences. 

That is why it is important to start with the golden rule of “start low and go slow” with one low dose first and then monitor your reaction .

A low dose of THC would be 5mg or less. 

If you are new to edibles and are testing your tolerance, I recommend starting with store-bought gummies that have a set dose.

This will make it easier to track and predict your reaction to THC.

Homemade edibles can have too much variability when it comes to dosing.

Also, remember to record the amount you consumed so you can go back and compare dosages if needed.

This will help you to repeat the good experiences and avoid bad ones. Get started with tracking journals Gold Leaf. 

Homemade Edibles

Making your own edible recipes at home is a great experience and it can allow you to use a strain that is right for you.

Here are the most important things to know before you jump into making and storing your own marijuana edibles at home.

Decarb First

The first thing you need to know is that cannabis needs to undergo a simple process called decarboxylation to enjoy the active forms of CBD or THC. 

Raw cannabis contains what is known as THCA (tetrahydrocannabinolic acid) THCA and CBDA (cannabidiolic acid).

Like terpenes, these cannabinoids contain their own health benefits, however, these are not intoxicating, meaning they won’t get you high.. 

Decarboxylation is the process that converts THCA → THC and CBDA → CBD.

Using heat is the most common way to decarboxylate cannabis. Here are instructions for the decarb process using an oven or Instant Pot.

Simply put the raw weed in a mason jar, bake at the right temperature, and you’re ready to go!

Keep in mind, you will need to decarb most forms of cannabis plant material including:

• cannabis flower
• fan leaves
• trim
• kief
• concentrates

Confused on where to start? Check out this terms and abbreviations guide to get started.

Use Decarbed Cannabis

After the decarbing process, you can add the plant matter directly to recipes, if you want.

Or you could use already vaped bud lefter from vaping flower.

This is an easy way to infuse food, but will depend on your taste and texture preferences.

For best results, it is recommended to grind the cannabis into a fine powder, a cannabis flour, if you will.

This can easily be stored at room temperature for a long time.

You can then add this ground cannabis directly to different recipes such as ranch dressing or taco seasoning or consume in a capsule.

Keep in mind, you only need to use a small amount in most cases, as the THC levels can be higher.

Infusions

Cannabis infusions are perfect because the high fat content help the cannabinoids from the trichomes bind to the fat.

This is why cannabis butter is so popular.

Making a cannabis infusion can be as simple as combining decarboxylated cannabis and cup of butter in a slow cooker or double boiler over low heat for a few hours.

You can also purchase an infusion machine to do the job for you.

Popular fat sources include:

• coconut oil
• olive oil
• MCT oil
• vegetable oil
• regular butter
• peanut butter
• milk or cream

Find instructions for how to make your own full-spectrum cannabis oil or butter in a crockpot or Instant pot here.

Keep in mind, you never want to microwave your cannabis!

You can also determine how much weed you should use with this flower to oil ratio guide.

Once your oil infusion is made, you can use your weed butter or infused oil to make cannabis brownies with your favorite brownie mix or in your favorite recipe.

Needs some ideas? Check out this list of easy, no-bake cannabutter recipes to get started.

Extraction and Tinctures

Alcohol-based extractions are also popular option to make at home.

This method involves using high-proof grain alcohol to extract the cannabinoids from the plant matter.

The long way to make a tincture is know as the Green Dragon, and the shorter way is known as the Golden Dragon or QWET.

The main difference between these methods is the amount of chlorophyll that is released into the final product.

Once these tinctures are made, they can be used as-is, or taken one step further to create recipes like sugar, salt, homemade drinks or even oil.

By evaporating off the alcohol, you can create a product known as full-extract cannabis oil (FECO) or Rick Simpson Oil (RSO).

Store-Bought Products

Using store-bought cannabis products is the easiest way to make your own cannabis edibles.

Option like cannabis extracts and can be added directly to a recipe.

Determining The Potency

The most difficult piece of the homemade edible puzzle is determining the THC content of the final product.

Unfortunately, it is nearly impossible to determine the mg of THC without lab testing.

This makes hard to accurately dose your homemade edibles if you don’t know how much CBD or THC you are consuming. 

This opens up the risk of you either underdosing or overdosing, which will ultimately prevent you from experiencing the desired benefits. 

To help you with this, I have created my very own edibles dosage calculator.

This will help you calculate potency in milligrams of THC for the whole batch, as well as per serving size.

While a calculator is no replacement for lab testing, this tool has been designed to help you get a guesstimate of the potency.

An Experiment & Commitment 

Ultimately, consuming edibles is really a self-experiment that requires both curiosity and patience. 

Experimenting with different dosages and duration times requires a commitment to the process. 

It will likely take several tries for you to find the right dosage with predictable onset and duration times that you can rely on. 

For this reason, I always recommend my dionline course students consume edibles in the safety of their own home – when they have time to stay put and enjoy the experience.

With the notoriously delayed onset and duration time of edibles, you should plan on devoting at least 6-12 hours to your experience. 

Try Your First Edible Today!

Ready to start making your own homemade edibles? Check out these tasty recipes to help get you started!

P.S. You’re not limited to just sweets! Check out these 40+ delicious, healthy cannabis recipes.