How is cannabis a drug?
Cannabis produces over 770 chemical compounds, 90 percent of them in trace amounts. The primary active compounds in cannabis are the cannabinoids and include THC, CBD and CBG. Only THC is psychoactive, but both CBD and CBG possess potent medicinal activity and modify the effects of THC. The other primary effects of cannabis are produced by cannabis’s essential oils, a common class of plant chemicals called terpenes. Terpenes can be absorbed orally through the mucous membranes of the mouth, but do not survive digestion if chewed up and swallowed. Myrcene, one of these terpenes (also produced by thyme and lemongrass), is thought to interact with THC and produce the sedative indica effect of smoked or vaporized cannabis varieties. Other terpenes such as beta-caryophyllene and pinene may contribute to the stimulating sativa effect of other cannabis varieties when inhaled. However, when cannabis medicines are swallowed, they do not exhibit these sativa or indica effects. (...)
The pot available in dispensaries today is radically different than what our parents or grandparents might have toked. How has marijuana changed over the years, and how do the genetic changes in the plant influence dosage and how the drug affects us?
Ultra-high THC potency cannabis is relatively recent. For most of our twelve thousand year history with cannabis, cultivated cannabis drug varieties produced only two or three percent THC. The legendary Thai Stick variety contained around eight percent. Even cannabis resin, hashish, rarely topped twenty percent THC. But prohibition encourages potency and an aggressive drug war encouraged it more. Potent plants require less space, which aids their concealment.
After a thirty-five year War on Drugs, cannabis can exceed twenty-five percent THC. Cannabis resin often exceeds fifty percent, and cannabis oils can top seventy percent THC. Increased potency is not really the issue that prohibitionists claim; but it does reduce the margin of error when consuming cannabis. Like beer vs. whiskey doses, only a fool would pour and consume a pint of whiskey, because most drinkers learn to dose alcohol. Similarly, cannabis users learn that higher-potency cannabis reduces the amount required. But individuals only having experience with the low-potency cannabis of the Seventies and Eighties can be unpleasantly overwhelmed when consuming today’s cannabis.
The chemical balance of cannabis has changed since the Sixties. Cannabis breeders for the past forty years have selected plants that produced the highest levels of THC. Unbeknownst to them, many of the early cannabis varieties contained significant levels of CBD as well as THC. CBD is a cannabinoid that is not psychoactive but medicinally valuable and CBD reduces many of the adverse effects produced by THC. Today’s cannabis produces THC, and rarely any CBD. Recently, varieties producing CBD have become more available thanks to the testing labs searching for CBD cannabis varieties and organizations such as Project CBD.
How do you determine what a proper dose of herbal cannabis or infused edible is, and what’s the science behind cannabis dosage?
Research on dosing herbal cannabis has been hampered by federal law. What is known about herbal cannabis dose is primarily based on anecdote, hundreds of thousands of them, with some extrapolation from doses of prescription cannabis medicines such as Marinol and Sativex. Despite the volume of experience, anecdotal guidance barely suffices. With less prohibition and more research, we would be much more precise in understanding the use of herbal cannabis.
Too many people calculate a dose of cannabis by the amount of THC psychoactivity they can comfortably withstand. A more informed approach to cannabis dose is to determine the minimum dose needed to reach the desired outcome. This minimum dose approach can be challenging when today’s herbal cannabis can average 15 percent THC in dispensaries in California,
Cannabis users in the Sixties often consumed an entire joint. Back in the day, a one-gram joint of 2% THC cannabis typically contained about twenty milligrams of THC. A person smoking that joint would absorb around seven milligrams of THC, the rest lost to combustion and sidestream smoke.
By comparison, that one-gram joint filled with a contemporary high-THC variety like OG Kush could contain 250 milligrams of THC. A single 50 milligram inhalation of high-potency cannabis oil (a “dab”) can deliver a dose equal to over four joints of Mexican commercial weed from the Seventies.
Remember that the THC in orally consumed cannabis will be metabolized by the liver into 11-hydroxy-THC and this form is twice as strong and will last twice as long as regular THC.
The threshold of THC psychoactivity for most people when consumed orally beneath the tongue or swallowed is just below two milligrams of THC. A cannabis dose for pain begins at around two milligrams and for most new medical cannabis patients tops out at about ten milligrams per dose. In a study of smoked cannabis at University of California, San Diego, researchers noted a “sweet spot” of dose for smoked cannabis in treating pain. Too small a dose produced little relief, while too high a dose actually increased the pain levels in the study subjects. Cannabis dose for pain relief presents a “Goldilocks” conundrum to find a dose that is “just right.” Most individuals unused to the effects of THC in cannabis become uncomfortably high at doses of fifteen milligrams or more.
Another challenge of taking cannabis orally is that only 10 to 20 percent of the dose reaches systemic circulation after its liver transformation into 11-hydroxy-THC. On an empty stomach, the onset of effects is typically thirty to sixty minutes and the THC psychoactivity lasts four to eight hours. Medicinal effects such as appetite stimulation can persist for 24 hours or more after a dose of THC.
Seven grams of twelve percent THC high-quality indoor cannabis infused into fifty grams of butter in slow cooker at 200 degrees for three hours will extract around 600 milligrams of THC. (For geeks, there is some loss in converting raw acidic THC to bioactive THC when heated by cooking, vaporizing or smoking. The raw THCA gives up a carboxyl group and converts to its neutral THC form. Additionally, the butter extraction method is not perfectly efficient.) That butter infused into a batch of twenty cookies will result in a cookie containing thirty milligrams of THC, which would be considered three portions under Colorado’s cannabis edible regulations.
Here are some basic anecdotal rules of thumb concerning THC dose for occasional cannabis users.Again, these are anecdotal and should not be considered professional or medical advice. Remember that there are genetic differences among individuals, so doses and onset times vary.
2 mg: threshold of psychoactivity for infrequent users. Very little to no impairment.
2.5 mg: most report psychoactivity equal to a glass of wine or a beer. Doses in this range are popular for social anxiety, encouraging the munchies, and focus.
5 mg: nearly all occasional users will note significant psychoactivity. Significant appetite stimulation. Mild psychoactivity, akin to two to three glasses of wine.
10 mg: Strong psychoactivity for most occasional users. Significant distraction from pain. This dose is often recommended by physicians to stem nausea from chemotherapy.
15 mg: Most occasional users report uncomfortable levels of psychoactivity at this dose. Regular users of cannabis do not.
1000 mg: the most potent edible available in California dispensaries. This is ten times the maximum THC content of the edibles permitted by law to be sold in Colorado adult-use cannabis shops.
Cannabis produces over 770 chemical compounds, 90 percent of them in trace amounts. The primary active compounds in cannabis are the cannabinoids and include THC, CBD and CBG. Only THC is psychoactive, but both CBD and CBG possess potent medicinal activity and modify the effects of THC. The other primary effects of cannabis are produced by cannabis’s essential oils, a common class of plant chemicals called terpenes. Terpenes can be absorbed orally through the mucous membranes of the mouth, but do not survive digestion if chewed up and swallowed. Myrcene, one of these terpenes (also produced by thyme and lemongrass), is thought to interact with THC and produce the sedative indica effect of smoked or vaporized cannabis varieties. Other terpenes such as beta-caryophyllene and pinene may contribute to the stimulating sativa effect of other cannabis varieties when inhaled. However, when cannabis medicines are swallowed, they do not exhibit these sativa or indica effects. (...)
The pot available in dispensaries today is radically different than what our parents or grandparents might have toked. How has marijuana changed over the years, and how do the genetic changes in the plant influence dosage and how the drug affects us?
Ultra-high THC potency cannabis is relatively recent. For most of our twelve thousand year history with cannabis, cultivated cannabis drug varieties produced only two or three percent THC. The legendary Thai Stick variety contained around eight percent. Even cannabis resin, hashish, rarely topped twenty percent THC. But prohibition encourages potency and an aggressive drug war encouraged it more. Potent plants require less space, which aids their concealment.
After a thirty-five year War on Drugs, cannabis can exceed twenty-five percent THC. Cannabis resin often exceeds fifty percent, and cannabis oils can top seventy percent THC. Increased potency is not really the issue that prohibitionists claim; but it does reduce the margin of error when consuming cannabis. Like beer vs. whiskey doses, only a fool would pour and consume a pint of whiskey, because most drinkers learn to dose alcohol. Similarly, cannabis users learn that higher-potency cannabis reduces the amount required. But individuals only having experience with the low-potency cannabis of the Seventies and Eighties can be unpleasantly overwhelmed when consuming today’s cannabis.
The chemical balance of cannabis has changed since the Sixties. Cannabis breeders for the past forty years have selected plants that produced the highest levels of THC. Unbeknownst to them, many of the early cannabis varieties contained significant levels of CBD as well as THC. CBD is a cannabinoid that is not psychoactive but medicinally valuable and CBD reduces many of the adverse effects produced by THC. Today’s cannabis produces THC, and rarely any CBD. Recently, varieties producing CBD have become more available thanks to the testing labs searching for CBD cannabis varieties and organizations such as Project CBD.
How do you determine what a proper dose of herbal cannabis or infused edible is, and what’s the science behind cannabis dosage?
Research on dosing herbal cannabis has been hampered by federal law. What is known about herbal cannabis dose is primarily based on anecdote, hundreds of thousands of them, with some extrapolation from doses of prescription cannabis medicines such as Marinol and Sativex. Despite the volume of experience, anecdotal guidance barely suffices. With less prohibition and more research, we would be much more precise in understanding the use of herbal cannabis.
Too many people calculate a dose of cannabis by the amount of THC psychoactivity they can comfortably withstand. A more informed approach to cannabis dose is to determine the minimum dose needed to reach the desired outcome. This minimum dose approach can be challenging when today’s herbal cannabis can average 15 percent THC in dispensaries in California,
Cannabis users in the Sixties often consumed an entire joint. Back in the day, a one-gram joint of 2% THC cannabis typically contained about twenty milligrams of THC. A person smoking that joint would absorb around seven milligrams of THC, the rest lost to combustion and sidestream smoke.
By comparison, that one-gram joint filled with a contemporary high-THC variety like OG Kush could contain 250 milligrams of THC. A single 50 milligram inhalation of high-potency cannabis oil (a “dab”) can deliver a dose equal to over four joints of Mexican commercial weed from the Seventies.
Remember that the THC in orally consumed cannabis will be metabolized by the liver into 11-hydroxy-THC and this form is twice as strong and will last twice as long as regular THC.
The threshold of THC psychoactivity for most people when consumed orally beneath the tongue or swallowed is just below two milligrams of THC. A cannabis dose for pain begins at around two milligrams and for most new medical cannabis patients tops out at about ten milligrams per dose. In a study of smoked cannabis at University of California, San Diego, researchers noted a “sweet spot” of dose for smoked cannabis in treating pain. Too small a dose produced little relief, while too high a dose actually increased the pain levels in the study subjects. Cannabis dose for pain relief presents a “Goldilocks” conundrum to find a dose that is “just right.” Most individuals unused to the effects of THC in cannabis become uncomfortably high at doses of fifteen milligrams or more.
Another challenge of taking cannabis orally is that only 10 to 20 percent of the dose reaches systemic circulation after its liver transformation into 11-hydroxy-THC. On an empty stomach, the onset of effects is typically thirty to sixty minutes and the THC psychoactivity lasts four to eight hours. Medicinal effects such as appetite stimulation can persist for 24 hours or more after a dose of THC.
Seven grams of twelve percent THC high-quality indoor cannabis infused into fifty grams of butter in slow cooker at 200 degrees for three hours will extract around 600 milligrams of THC. (For geeks, there is some loss in converting raw acidic THC to bioactive THC when heated by cooking, vaporizing or smoking. The raw THCA gives up a carboxyl group and converts to its neutral THC form. Additionally, the butter extraction method is not perfectly efficient.) That butter infused into a batch of twenty cookies will result in a cookie containing thirty milligrams of THC, which would be considered three portions under Colorado’s cannabis edible regulations.
Here are some basic anecdotal rules of thumb concerning THC dose for occasional cannabis users.Again, these are anecdotal and should not be considered professional or medical advice. Remember that there are genetic differences among individuals, so doses and onset times vary.
2 mg: threshold of psychoactivity for infrequent users. Very little to no impairment.
2.5 mg: most report psychoactivity equal to a glass of wine or a beer. Doses in this range are popular for social anxiety, encouraging the munchies, and focus.
5 mg: nearly all occasional users will note significant psychoactivity. Significant appetite stimulation. Mild psychoactivity, akin to two to three glasses of wine.
10 mg: Strong psychoactivity for most occasional users. Significant distraction from pain. This dose is often recommended by physicians to stem nausea from chemotherapy.
15 mg: Most occasional users report uncomfortable levels of psychoactivity at this dose. Regular users of cannabis do not.
1000 mg: the most potent edible available in California dispensaries. This is ten times the maximum THC content of the edibles permitted by law to be sold in Colorado adult-use cannabis shops.
by Xeni Jardin and Lisa Marks, Boing Boing | Read more:
Image: uncredited
