The THC Dosage Guide: Flower, Edibles, Concentrates and More
Please keep in mind that it is difficult to provide exact recommendations from a strain selection and dosage perspective simultaneously, as each person's endocannabinoid system responds to cannabis slightly differently.
A Few General Guidelines
As a general rule, start slow. You can always consume more, but it's hard to bring yourself
back down once you've flown too close to the proverbial sun. Dosage will become easier as you become familiar with your personal tolerance and you get familiar with all the essential smoking accessories you may need to use.
Flower
Because the effects of smoking cannabis can be felt almost instantly, dosage control
is relatively easy compared to other consumption methods. For novice smokers, one or two inhalations from a joint, pipe, blunt, or bong are all it takes to feel TH C's powerful effects.
Those with higher tolerances will likely require several more 'hits' to achieve the same effects.
Vaporization
Vaporization involves heating cannabis buds or concentrates to a specific temperature, causing the cannabinoids stored in the plant's trichomes to evaporate into a gas without com busting any plant material. Similar to smoking, the effects of vaporization can be felt immediately. As with smoking, we recommend starting with just a couple inhalations from a vaporizer for novice consumers. Once again, seasoned users will require a larger number of hits to achieve the same effect.
Edibles & Ingestible Oils
Edibles are cannabis infused varieties of food and drink. Because the cannabinoids in edibles are absorbed through the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, the onset time is delayed (30 to 90+ minutes, depending on your metabolism, what you've eaten that day and a number of other factors) relative to other consumption methods.
The delayed onset time makes dosage control slightly more difficult with edibles, as relief will not be felt immediately. Most anyone who's had an edible has a story about getting "couch-locked" after thinking they weren't working and taking too high a dose. It'll likely take some time and experimentation to find the ideal edible dose for you.
For new consumers first trying cannabis edibles, we recommend you start with 1-Smg of THC.
Everyone's metabolism is different, and therefore everyone has a different reaction to edibles. The important part is to WAIT after you ingest, as onset can take up to two hours. When in doubt, wait it out! As you become more familiar with your edible tolerance, it will be easier to fine-tune your dosage.
For occasional cannabis consumers, we recommend 5-10 mg of THC. Frequent consumers
(those with high tolerances and/or medical needs), will likely need dosages in excess of l0+mg of THC. Start with a low dose and be patient-you can always eat more or supplement with another consumption method! Pro tip: Drink lots of water, it's important to stay hydrated when ingesting edibles.
Tinctures
A tincture is a liquid cannabis concentrate that is typically administered sublingually with a dropper. A few (2-4) drops of the cannabinoid-rich liquid under the tongue is often a sufficient starting dose. The effects will be felt within roughly 15 minutes. Feel free to use more or stop as your situation indicates .
Pathway to targets: CBD can be absorbed directly into your bloodstream from capillary-rich areas underneath the tongue, along the gums and cheek. From here, it avoids first-pass metabolism and is sent throughout your body.
Time-frame: This route gets CBD into your bloodstream faster than swallowing. Under the tongue (sublingual) is generally quicker than against the cheek (buccal).However, because most of the CBD will eventually be swallowed, peak bloodstream levels range from 0.5 - 5 hours.
Other considerations:
Food. When evaluating an oral spray, researchers discovered that the total amount of absorbed CBD increases 5-fold if the person has recently eaten. Chewing helps increase blood flow to your mouth, which could help increase absorption.
Increase surface contact. It’s often suggested to keep CBD oil in your mouth for 1.5 minutes or more before swallowing. During this time, increase absorption by vigorously swishing the oil around your mouth and even between your teeth — this increases the surface contact between the oil and your capillaries. (If you’ve tried oil-pulling as a tooth-and-gums cleanser, this will be familiar.)
Dabbing
Dabbing is a form of flash vaporization where a dose of cannabis concentrate
(generally a wax or shatter, but potentially a pure isolate) is dropped onto a heated nail and the resulting vapor is inhaled. Cannabis concentrates are extremely potent and the effects of taking a dab, like with most inhaled forms of cannabis, can be felt almost instantly.
While concentrates are typically purchased in gram or half-gram increments, a single dose is often times much smaller, as indicated in the image above. We recommend trying it! Start with a small dab, roughly the size of a grain of rice, and taking more as needed starting with just a couple inhalations from a vaporizer for novice consumers. Once again, seasoned users will require a larger number of hits to achieve the same effect.
Topicals
Types: Creams, lotions
Pathway to targets: Topical CBD diffuses across your skin and reaches local targets, like muscles, inflammatory cells, and pain-perceiving nerves. Very little, if any, enters the bloodstream — unless it is designed for transdermal activity.
Time-frame: Varies, depending on the target.
Other considerations:
Often paired. Topicals are great for on-the-spot treatment and arousal. But for long-term health goals, people often get the best results when they pair topicals with oral or inhaled CBD products.
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