Marijuana edibles have been on the cannabis market for a long time. These delicious treats allow users to enjoy their favourite sweets and favourite cannabis strains at the same time.
Cannabis users can find edibles in the form of:
- Gummies
- Cookies
- Brownies and more.
Although consumers can purchase cannabis edibles online, many people enjoy making their own at home. This allows users to tailor their edibles recipe to meet any dietary needs and other preferences.
A common problem people report when making their own edibles (and sometimes when buying pre-made edibles) is that they don’t seem to work. You consumed them only to find yourself not experiencing any of the effects you were expecting.
Let’s see why that is and how you can increase the potency of your weed edibles.
Reasons Your Edibles Aren’t Getting Your High
There are many reasons your edibles aren’t giving you the high you anticipated. Let’s take a look at the three leading causes.
- The dosage in the recipe or the purchased product is not the correct dosage for you. Everyone has different cannabis tolerance levels. While 5 mg of cannabis may get some users very high, some people may require much higher doses to feel the same effects.
- You didn’t decarboxylate your weed before you baked with it. This is an essential process as cannabis in its raw form is not psychoactive and will not give you any effects. If you skipped the decarboxylation step or didn’t do it correctly, your homemade edibles will not be effective.
- It hasn’t had time to get digested. It can be tempting to eat more edibles when you feel the same right after. However, edibles can take about 30 minutes to kick in as your body needs time to process and digest it. So, just because you don’t feel any different right away does not mean the edible isn’t working. Give it some time before making your decision.
Tips to Increasing Your Homemade Edibles’ Potency
If you are finding edibles aren’t effective for any of the reasons listed above, there are steps you can take to increase their potency and give you the experience you want.
First, we discussed your cannabis not being the correct dosage for you. There are a few ways to remedy this:
- Use a more potent cannabis strain when you make edibles. This will help make your edibles more powerful without needing you to use more of them.
- Use more of it. You can also simply add more cannabis than a recipe calls for to make it more potent. But, this may not be the most cost-effective option.
- Use strong infusions. You can up the cannabis content in your cannabis butter or cannabis oil. By using stronger infusions, you can get a higher dose without having to add in more butter or oil, which can impact your final product.
- Use concentrates to augment the cannabis. Concentrates, like oil, kief, and tinctures, are all highly concentrated. You can often add these to any recipe to increase its potency; all you have to do is stir them in.
Second, we discussed the importance of decarboxylation. In its raw form, cannabis does not contain THC and CBD, but rather the acidic forms of them, called THC-A and CBD-A. These forms of cannabinoids are not psychoactive and will not have any effects.
The cannabis needs to be heated so that the acid part drops off. Thus, THC-A becomes THC and CBD-A becomes just CBD. If this part is skipped or the weed is not heated correctly, the cannabinoids will not transform into the form needed to give users effects.
You can decarboxylate your cannabis in the oven (just be careful not to burn it) or by purchasing specific equipment.
Third, we discussed digestion time. This is a simple fix: just wait 30 to 45 minutes for effects to kick in. After this time, take another (small) dose if you still aren’t feeling its effects.
These are simple ways to increase your edibles’ potency, whether you make it yourself or purchase it. As you experiment with your baking and edible making, you will be able to fine-tune your recipes, so they give you the high you want.
Calculating Dosage in Edibles
Choosing the right dosage is essential when it comes to achieving the results you want when using cannabis. But, when you buy edibles or make them on your own, how can you tell how much cannabis is in them? It will take a little math.
When you purchase pre-made edibles, you can calculate the dosage by looking at the total amount of cannabis listed on the label. Then, divide that by the number of servings. For example, if your cannabis gummies are listed as 500 mg gummies, and there are 25 gummies in the jar, each gummy contains 20 mg of cannabis.
The formula for figuring out the dosage of homemade edibles is similar. Look at how much cannabis you use in your recipe and divide it by the number of servings you make. Then, only eat one serving at a time.
If you decarboxylate your own cannabis, your plant will lose some potency during this process. When the decarboxylating process is done correctly, it should not lose more than 25 percent.
Increasing the Potency of Cannabis Edibles
Whether you make your own cannabis edibles or buy them pre-made, from places such as Get Kush who have a wide selection of THC gummies, you may find that they don’t quite give you the effects you want. This could be caused by taking the wrong dose, not decarboxylating your weed, or not allowing them time to take effect.
Thankfully, there are many ways you can increase the potency of your edibles, including using a stronger strain, increasing the amount used, and even adding in supplemental cannabis in the form of extracts.
Consuming the right amount of cannabis is essential to providing you with a quality experience. Be sure to keep the amount each edible contains in mind as you enjoy them.
