For those of you who have never tried edible marijuana, your first time may be halted by a host of anxiety or uncertainty which will stir up a lot of questions.
How much should I eat? How long does it take? How high will I get?… ect.
These are just some of the questions any ‘edi-virgin’ may need answered to begin their experience with some peace of mind. We will answer all of these questions and more. Keep reading to find out all you need to know to have the best experience with edible marijuana as possible.
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Start small and sit tight.
Remember, this is the first time you are introducing marijuana into your body in this way. Without prior experience there is no way to truly understand how you will be effected, this applies even to the everyday smoker. First and foremost; relax, take it slow, and enjoy yourself. Don’t expect to feel anything significant within the first 45 – 90 minutes. Unlike smoking pot, eating edible marijuana takes longer to kick in and will last longer. To some this can be a more enjoyable experience than smoking, yet can be scary for others. When smoking, the psychoactive components, thc, get absorbed through you lungs and directly into your blood, then make its way into your brain within minutes (or faster) depending on the potency and/or form smoked (i.e. wax, flower). However, when ingesting pot your body needs the additional time to properly metabolize and begin to digest the psychoactive components of that tasty treat you just consumed. During digestion the thc gets absorbed into the blood more slowly and circulates the body and mind more evenly but will take longer to feel the effects.
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If you start to feel like you are sobering up after a brief period of feeling stoned, do not take that as a sign to eat more. Continue to sit tight and relax. Your ride is not over.
One of the ways I like to describe the high from eating pot is that it comes and goes in waves. This can be comparable to taking other medications as well. Since your body needs to metabolize and digest the psychoactive components, you may have peak periods of feeling high with growing intensity, followed by shorter and shorter periods of feeling sober (valley’s). Eventually you will have a prolonged consistent feeling of being stoned for up to an hour. Then, when ‘coming down’ the experience is very similar and also comes and goes in waves of lessening intensity. You will have growing periods of soberness followed by shorter periods of feeling stoned.
One interesting way to look at this would be that you are having multiple mini experiences for the price of one. Think of the short periods of soberness as a chance to mentally reset your perception and to ground yourself in reality before creeping back into sedation.
*A nice trick to extend the sober periods is to drink a full glass of cold water.
* A nice trick to stamp out those sober periods would be to smoke immediately after eating.
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Feeling the effects of an edible containing even 5-10mg of thc can take up to 1-2 hours to kick in and last up to 2-5 hours.
While trying to determine how long it will take to feel the effects, and how long it will last, there are several factors you should remember to account for. Ask yourself, how much food have I eaten today? Are you going into it with a full stomach, empty stomach, or on a light snack? It’s usually not recommended to have an empty stomach and if you have eaten a huge meal before hand the effects might take even longer before they kick in. Light snacks are the way to go.
Another factor to consider is if you recently smoked or do you plan on smoking shortly after ingesting your edible. This will make it harder to interpret the effectiveness of the edible marijuana and not recommended of the weary ‘first-timer’. Some people may immediately smoke afterwards so that by the time the effects of smoking wears off the edible will then be kicking in. Of course what you choose to do is completely subjective and based on your own tolerance levels.
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Know your limits based on previous experiences with marijuana.
This seems like common sense, but if you know you have a low tolerance for smoking it’s best to start with a small dosage edible (5-10mg) and do not additionally smoke. Conversely, if you know you have a high tolerance for smoking but this is your first experience with edibles, it is still recommended to start with a low dosage, but additional smoking may not be a problem for you. In this case it may actually be recommended to smoke right after eating to help curb you from eating too much. Which is the most common newbie mistake and usually leads to a bad experience.
For homemade edibles where the potency is questionable you should always proceed with caution. You will essentially be going into your experience blind. Aside from not knowing the amount of THC you are consuming, you have no insurance that the quality of extraction and production was done in a safe and non-hazardous manner.
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Tolerance can build quickly over subsequent uses.
After your first use is over it’s important to remember the dosage you took and how you felt during your peak moments. For most people, after 2 to 3 uses at the same THC dosage you may start to realize you are beginning to build a tolerance and the effects are actually weakening. Try increasing your dosage by 5 to 10 mg at a time. Any more than that and you may actually catch yourself off guard and begin to feel a small level of anxiety.
In summary, if this is your first experience with edible marijuana there are a few important tips to keep in mind; sit tight and relax, it takes time to kick in and even more time to wear off, so don’t “bite off more than you can chew” until you wait at least 2 hours. The high may seem very different for the first few times so just enjoy it and roll with it, drinking water may help to reduce the effects and provide some moments of clarity if you begin to feel anxious or uncomfortable. It’s also important to mention that you try and surround yourself with close friends in an environment where you can fully enjoy it together as a group. Lastly, just make sure you have nothing important to do over the next 3-5 hours.