This article originally appeared on Cannabis.net and has been reposted with permission.
When it comes to consuming cannabis, it’s always a good idea to test your tolerance. However, if you are new to consuming, this might be a tad bit difficult to do. How do you know if you’re able to handle a full dose of an edible you bought at the store? How do you know how much cannabis to use in your butter before making your brownies?
If you’re struggling with these questions, you are in for a treat. Today, we’ll be walking you through the fundamentals of dosing, and how to properly test an edible you buy from a dispensary as well as what you should consider when you are infusing cannabis into your own edibles. If you are a seasoned cannabis user, some of this information might still be valuable for you.
However, if you are completely new to the world of cannabis, this information might be just what you need to avoid greening out. If you’re not familiar with greening out, it is essentially experiencing an “overdose” of cannabis. Unlike other drugs, overdosing on cannabis is relatively safe. However, the experience could be scary — especially if you’re consuming edibles.
This is because edibles process the THC differently than when you smoke it. Instead of delta-9-THC — the byproduct of smoking cannabis — you get 11-hydroxy-THC. It’s estimated that 11-hydroxy-THC is 10 times more potent than delta-9.
This is why it’s important to always take it slow when you are consuming edibles because the moment you overdose, you’re in for a trip. Fortunately, the odds of you dying is slim to none. In most cases, finding a quiet place, drinking some coffee and going to sleep will get you through the Green Out.
Testing Your Dispensary Bought Edibles
The inspiration for this article came from a post I saw online which dived into the basics of dosing for first timers. In essence, the post explains that if it’s your first time, it’s best to buy a 1:1 ratio of THC to CBD. THC will get you high, but CBD counteracts this high.
Conversely, having a 2:1 ratio of THC to CBD would mean that the THC would be expressed more. Think of CBD as the break that would limit how far the THC can take you. Remove some of that, and the THC will take you further down the rabbit hole.
RELATED: What To Do If You Want Your Edibles To Kick In Faster
Next, let’s say you buy a packet marked with 50 mg of THC with 10 gummies in it. This means that each gummy is 5 mg. According to the post, here you’ll want to take one gummy and divide it further down into 4 pieces leaving you with 1.25 mg of THC per bit.
The post then suggests taking one portion of the gummy and to wait for 24 hours. Subsequently, you would increase the dose until you reach a pleasant high.
This is a very conservative way of doing it. The fact of the matter is that 1.25 mg of THC will hardly do anything to anyone. Your threshold is far higher.
You could do 1 bit of THC (1.25 mg) and then wait roughly 1 hour. If after 1 hour you don’t feel anything, take another one and wait another hour.
If you still feel nothing after the second hour, go ahead and consume 2.5 mg and wait again. If you still feel nothing after this, DO NOT EAT ANYMORE! Now you wait and reset for the next day, when you’ll start your dose with 2.5 mg and wait.
RELATED: How Many Edibles Should You Eat? Your Guide To Edible Dosing
You will then follow the same protocol as day one until you feel a nice buzz. Once you have found your threshold, you know how much THC is required to get you going and this data can be applied to future edibles.
This is all good for dispensary bought products, but how much weed do you use in butter when making your own edibles?
Gauging Your Own Homemade Edibles
I could write about using X amount of weed per X amount of butter, but this would not be accurate, especially considering that strains have different percentages of weed. You’re not going to need the same amount of cannabis that contain 25% THC as cannabis that contains 15% THC.
Fortunately, I don’t have to explain these things to you since there are online tools available that allows you to calculate these things automatically.
The Cannabutter Dosage Calculator allows you to plug in your particular values and it will automatically work out how much you need.
Simply fill out the percentage of THC in your weed. The page has a sliding bar which you can set to your desired THC levels. Then, you’ll see a box where you’ll write out the cannabis used in grams. Finally, you’ll also be listing the number of servings you’ll be making with the blend.
RELATED: How Long Do Marijuana Edibles Stay In Your System?
Once you have filled this out, you’ll have a calculation on the dose per home made edible! As with the dispensary edible, you’ll want to test this out slowly and ramp your way up. If you already know your threshold dose, you can start there, but always be careful.
What Do I Do If I Overdose?
It could be that you overdose on weed when experimenting. As mentioned, drinking some coffee, finding a quiet place and laying down is key to coming out with flying colors.
The reason why most people go to the ER with a cannabis overdose is because they work themselves up. If you simply engage in slow breathing, relaxing, and knowing that whatever goes up must come down, you’ll be fine. However, if you follow the suggestions above, you should be safe from overdosing.
This article originally appeared on Cannabis.net and has been reposted with permission.
