A general guide to testing and dosing marijuana edibles

This article originally appeared on Cannabis.net and was republished with permission.

When it comes to cannabis use, it’s always a good idea to test your tolerance. However, if you are new to consuming it can be a little tricky. How do you know if you are able to process a full dose of a food that you bought in the store? How do you know how much cannabis to use in your butter before making your brownies?

If you struggle with these questions, you will experience something. Today we’re walking you through the basics of dosage and how to properly test an edible that you buy from a pharmacy, and what to look for when infusing cannabis into your own edibles. Still, if you are an experienced cannabis user, some of this information can be valuable to you.

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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 are unfamiliar with greening, you are essentially experiencing an “overdose” of cannabis. Unlike other drugs, cannabis overdose is relatively safe. However, the experience could be scary – especially when consuming edibles.

This is because foods process THC differently than when they are smoked. Instead of delta-9-THC – the by-product of cannabis smoking – you get 11-hydroxy-THC. It is estimated that 11-hydroxy-THC is 10 times stronger than Delta-9.

For this reason, it is important to always take it slow when consuming edibles because the moment you overdose, you are starting a journey. Fortunately, the chances of you dying are slim to none. In most cases, when you can find a quiet place, have a coffee and go to sleep, you will get through the green out.

Test your pharmacy-bought edibles

The inspiration for this article came from a post I saw online that delved into the basics of dosage for beginners. Essentially, the post explains that the first time it’s best to buy a 1: 1 ratio of THC to CBD. THC will get you high, but CBD counteracts that high.

Conversely, a ratio of THC to CBD of 2: 1 would mean that the THC is more strongly expressed. Think of CBD as the break that would limit how far the THC can take you. Remove some of it and the THC will take you further down the rabbit hole.

RELATED: How to Avoid Going to the Emergency Room for a Marijuana Overdose

Next, let’s say you buy a pack of 50 mg of THC and 10 gummy bears in it. This means that each gummy bear contains 5 mg. According to the post, here you should take a gummy bear and further break it up into 4 pieces so that you have 1.25 mg of THC each.

The post office then suggests taking a serving of the gum and waiting 24 hours. Then you would increase the dose until you get a comfortable high.

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This is a very conservative approach. The fact is, 1.25 mg of THC is unlikely to harm anyone. Your threshold is much higher.

You could take 1 bit THC (1.25 mg) and then wait about 1 hour. If you don’t feel anything after 1 hour, take another and wait another hour.

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If after the second hour you still don’t feel anything, take 2.5 mg and wait again. If after that you still feel nothing, DO NOT EAT ANY MORE! Now wait and prepare for the next day when you start your dose on 2.5 mg and wait.

RELATED: Marijuana Overdose: Don’t Freak Out, It’s Just Cannabis

You then follow the same protocol as the first day until you feel a nice buzz. Once you find your threshold, you will know how much THC it will take to get you going, and that data can be applied to future edibles.

This is all good for pharmacy-bought products, but how much grass do you use in butter when making your own edibles?

Measure your own homemade edibles

I could write about using X amount of weed per X amount of butter, but that wouldn’t be correct, especially considering that varieties have different percentages of weed. You won’t need the same amount of cannabis with 25% THC as cannabis with 15% THC.

Fortunately, I don’t have to explain these things to you as there are tools online that you can use to calculate these things automatically.

The cannabutter dose calculator allows you to enter your specific values ​​and it will automatically calculate how much you need.

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Just enter the THC percentage in your weed. The site has a sliding bar that you can adjust to your desired THC levels. Then you will see a field in which you write the cannabis used in grams. Finally, you will also list the number of servings that you will be making with the mixture.

RELATED: Pro Marijuana Tips: 5 Ways To Find Out THC Dosage Using Cannabutter

Once you fill this out you will have a dose calculation per homemade dish! As with the edible pharmacies, be sure to test this out slowly and work your way up. If you already know your threshold dose, you can start there, but always be careful.

What do I do in the event of an overdose?

It could be that you overdosed on weed while experimenting. As mentioned earlier, the keys to success are having coffee, finding a quiet place, and lying down.

RELATED: 5 Pro Tips to Get Off a Marijuana High Quickly

The reason most people go to the emergency room with a cannabis overdose is because they self-work. If you just breathe slowly, relax, and know that whatever goes up has to come down, you will be fine. However, if you follow the suggestions above, you should be safe from overdosing.

This article originally appeared on Cannabis.net and was republished with permission.