How You’ll Feel and For How Long

By Christina Wong

Eating, drinking, and smoking cannabis each offer widely different effects, onsets, and durations. In short: 10 mg of THC consumed in an edible and 10 mg of THC drank in a beverage and 10 mg of THC smoked from flower will each have a unique onset, duration and effect. Understanding how each form factor (i.e.: drinks, flowers, edibles) impacts the amount of cannabis you’d use and how the THC and other cannabinoids are absorbed by your body is essential in choosing the right cannabis product for you.

Smoking / Vaping

When smoking/inhaling THC, it is immediately absorbed into your bloodstream and you will start feeling the effects seconds-to-minutes after inhaling. Effects are different for each individual, they can peak at 30 minutes and last as long as 6 hours after use.

Smoking involves burning the cannabis flower through a joint, pipe, or bong and inhaling the smoke, whereas vaping is breathing in vapors from concentrated high-THC content cannabis oil that is heated to a precise temperature. You may also “vape” cannabis flower using combustion-free dry flower vaporizers, which are different from vape pens, and heat finely ground flower to precise temperatures to vaporize oils that are then inhaled. Vaporizing produces very light smoke and does not burn the flower so you can taste the pure cannabis terpene flavors without the burnt plant material.

If you want to feel the effects immediately or enjoy the ritual of smoking you may enjoy this.

Edibles

When eating cannabis-infused foods, the THC and other cannabinoids are absorbed in the stomach and metabolized through the liver, where they are converted into a compound called 11-hydroxy THC, which has more potent, stronger psychoactive effects than the THC absorbed by your body through smoking. Depending on your metabolism and factors like what you’ve eaten that day, it can take anywhere from 45 minutes to 2 hours to start feeling the effects as the THC is digested and processed. This delayed onset gives rise to the “Start low, go slow,” mantra for eating edibles.

An edible high can also feel three times stronger than a smoking high, which adds to the intensity and longevity of the high. The effects of an edible can take as long to peak as 4 hours, and taper off several hours later. Start low, go slow. You can always eat more cookies.

It’s not uncommon for new users to have a bad or unpleasant experience with edibles, and many people avoid edibles for the fact that they can be hard to dose and gauge. Therefore, when you’re learning your dose, it is best to start low at 5mg or less of THC and wait at least 2 hours to see how you feel before having more. The worst case is that you don’t feel anything and try again another day with an increased dose.

Some edibles are now made with a cannabis nanoemulsion, which makes the THC molecules smaller and easier to absorb into the bloodstream. These fast-acting edibles have a quick onset time, within 10-20 minutes, and because they’re not processed by the liver and converted into hydroxy-11, they’ll also have a shorter duration.

If you’re looking for a long-lasting high you may enjoy cannabis edibles. You may also want to try edibles if you dislike smoking, have asthma or allergies, want to be discreet, have a sweet tooth, or like trying new infused treats.

Drinks

Cannabis beverages are commonly made with a water-soluble nanoemulsion that take effect faster than traditional edibles. Like the fast-acting nano-edibles, feeling the effects from these beverages takes between 10-20 minutes onset time. Sipping on a cannabis drink may feel more familiar to feeling the effects from drinking a glass of wine, beer, or cocktail.

If you’re looking for something to replace an alcoholic beverage at the end of the day or with dinner, you may enjoy cannabis drinks. People who use cannabis for sleep, or want to consume less sugar, enjoy drinks like cannabis seltzers and teas.

Know Your THC Percentage in Flower and Concentrates

THC percentage in flower and concentrates is an important factor to consider—but it’s not everything. While many consumers seek the most potent products to get the biggest bang for their buck, others may look for a lower THC percentage and a more well-rounded cannabinoid and terpene profile. Consumers who have also had problems with cannabis causing paranoia or making them too sleepy may find that THC is the culprit and that a lower dose or high CBD strain may be a better fit. Exploring different ratios of cannabinoids and terpenes is helpful in discovering what your favorite strains and products are.

Know Your Edibles Dose

Remember these 4 things:

Beginner dose: Start with 5 mg or less. If you don’t know the exact dose, less is better because you can always have more.
Be patient: Edibles take up to 90 minutes to 2 hours after eating to kick in. Eat a small dose portion and wait at least 2 hours before eating more.
A little goes a long way: Edibles will feel much stronger than smoking THC because of how it's metabolized; a little goes a long way.
Plan around timing: The effect of edibles will last much longer. You may start to feel effects 30-90 minutes after eating and the high feeling can last for 4-6 hours.

Know Your Drinks Dose

Beginner dose, but…: You should still start low (under 5 mg), but you don’t have to go as slow. If you don’t feel the effects in an hour, feel free to try a little bit more.
Stack them, but keep track: Just like an alcoholic drink, the great thing about cannabis beverages is that you can have more than one if they’re low dose. But you’ll still want to keep track of your overall consumption and leave plenty of time for the effects to wear off before you need to drive anywhere.

Articles