How fast can edibles kick in

According to a study of emergency department admissions in Colorado, acute psychiatric events and cardiovascular symptoms from cannabis are more common with edibles than inhalation products. An article in The American Journal of Psychiatry reports on five people in Colorado who went to the hospital with edible cannabis-induced temporary psychosis.

According to the report, the patients were daily cannabis smokers using more than ten times the recommended THC dose of 10 mg. In addition, children may accidentally eat edibles thinking they are regular foods or candies. A study reports that following legalization in Colorado, there was an increase in the number of children admitted to the hospital for consuming cannabis, with ingestion of an edible accounting for a majority of the cases. This can pose a risk for a person who may take more than intended, consequently experiencing adverse effects.

It is vital to keep edibles away from infants and children, who may think they look and taste similar to regular candies or cakes. Smoking or vaping cannabis has a faster effect, and people may better manage how high they become.

However, smoking has several potential health risks, so edibles may be an option to avoid them. Many people use marijuana, either for medical purposes or recreationally. However, can this lead to a 'weed hangover? Most medical experts agree there is very little risk of death from using marijuana alone. Remember, for THC and other cannabinoids to take effect—they need to get into the bloodstream.

Once they reach the bloodstream, they can activate the endocannabinoid receptors around the body. For example, THC binds to the endocannabinoid receptors in the brain to give us the psychoactive feeling of being high.

However, with an edible, the THC generally needs to first go through the digestive system. Imagine having a delicious THC gummy that you decide you are going to eat. You put it in your mouth, savor the delicious flavors, chew on it, and then swallow it.

The gummy containing the THC travels down to your stomach. The THC gummy will sit in your stomach until it's brought into the intestines. Once it gets there, the THC gets absorbed through the intestines and then processed by the liver.

From there, the THC quickly travels through the bloodstream and activates the endocannabinoid system. However, an edible isn't processed all at once. The reason for this is once again related to the digestive process.

The thing is, your digestive system doesn't process everything at the same time. For starters, not everything moves uniformly through the digestive system. That means that there isn't a fixed rate at which things get digested. Digestion happens at irregular intervals. Second, there is no order to how things are digested. That means if you eat a hamburger before a THC gummy, a part of the edible could be processed first. That's also why sometimes an edible can hit you really fast , even if you ate a lot before taking one.

However, you should always make sure not to eat an edible on an empty stomach. Without eating anything beforehand, the edible will be processed quickly, making it possibly feel too powerful. Pairing your edibles with fatty foods is one of these ways.

The body has an intestinal lymphatic system that makes cannabis compounds available to the body. Because of this, consuming THC and CBD through fatty foods, or with fatty foods, is likely to reduce onset time, and perhaps even increase the intensity of your cannabis edibles.

Try consuming them on an empty stomach followed by fatty food like peanut butter, cheese, or yogurt if you want to get right down to business. If you want your edibles to hit faster, hard candies, lozenges, and lollipops may become your new favorite way to enjoy cannabis.

These edibles are dissolved and absorbed through the mouth, and entered into the bloodstream in a more direct, and immediate fashion. Products like hard candies, lozenges, lollipops, and breath strips fall under the category of sublinguals.

Edibles that are absorbed through sublingually:. With delayed effects, you may find that taking a double dose over a short amount of time may lead to eventually feeling way too high i. Additional factors that change how long it takes for an edible to hit:. Physical characteristics play a huge role in how you respond to cannabis.

Your diet, speed of metabolism, age, tolerance, and general experience with cannabis will influence how long it takes for your edibles to take effect.

Some people have stomachs that empty fast, others take much longer to clear the body out. This is why you know people that can eat a whole chocolate cake without gaining a pound versus others who broke the scale just by reading the word chocolate.

A tincture is a quick and handy alternative ingestible that bypasses all of that extra biology to get your THC exactly where you need it to go—your bloodstream.

To take something sublingually means to take it under the tongue. Why is this beneficial for faster absorption? Under your tongue there exist mucus membranes and an abundance of capillaries, which allow cannabinoids to be absorbed more directly. A few drops under the tongue—held there for 5 to 10 minutes—will allow the effects of the THC in a tincture to come on much quicker, letting you better control the length and strength of your dosage.