I ate 10 times more THC than planned. This is what happened
For many people, the idea of eating 10 times more than their preferred dose of THC can be terrifying.
We’ve all heard the horror stories from people who went over the top. Maybe you ate too much of a mysterious brownie in college, or maybe you indulged in a mislabeled packet of gummies in the days leading up to the potency test. Anyway, the stories that end badly are the ones we hear about the most.
I embarked on this scary path last Tuesday: I accidentally took ten times more THC than planned.
That’s how it worked.
How to dose yourself incorrectly
Before I get into the details of this major bug, here is some background information.
In the United States, most constitutional states limit cannabis foods to 10 mg of THC per serving and 100 mg in total packaging.
However, I live in Canada where cannabis is legal nationwide and foods are limited to 10 mg of THC in the entire pack. However, Canadian products classified as cannabis extracts can contain up to 1,000 mg of THC per pack and contain products like oil, capsules, and sublinguals.
A friend recently gave me a box of SYNC Tabs from Emerald Health and I was thrilled to try them out. Since they come in mint and cherry flavors, I assumed they should be eaten like peppermints. In my mind, I submitted it to the grocery category – assuming the entire pill bottle contained 10 mg of THC.
That would be a wrong assumption.
connected
How to help a friend who has gotten too high
Wait it’s a what now?
After pouring all ten mint pills into my mouth, I realized something was wrong. These tablets were definitely not meant to be chewed. I reached for the packaging and took a closer look at what I hadn’t noticed before: There the words cannabis extract were as clear as they were on the day (albeit in tiny letters).
I turned it over to find out that the pack contained 10 mg of THC per tablet and not per bottle, which meant I had just chewed and swallowed 100 mg of THC.
Online these products are known as “sublingual tabs”. However, because Canadian regulations limit the amount of text a manufacturer can include on packaging, this important detail was nowhere to be found on the actual product.
connected
How long does a weed high last?
Sitting at the crossroads
Before the THC kicked in, I realized that I had two options: I could freak out and spend the next hours in a cold sweat, panic about what could go wrong, or I could accept my mistake, let go of it and spend the evening like treat your own adventure game.
It was then that I remembered a conversation I had recently with a friend about the psychedelic effects of high-dose foods. Instead of being afraid, I decided to look forward to my upcoming altered state of consciousness.
While my food dose is generally in the range of around 25 to 30 mg, I kept my fingers crossed, hoping that quadrupling it would simply lead to an evening of “extreme” relaxation, which I often find difficult.
In the half hour it took for the tabs to take effect, I continued what any proactive stoner would do: walk my dog, order dinner, prepare an assortment of snacks, and head over to Twitter to follow up Asking Netflix recommendations.
Among the suggestions: Midnight Gospel, Doctor Who, Sasquatch, Touching the Void, Atlanta and Wild, Wild Country.
I just ate 100 milligrams of THC thinking it was 10. Well this should add a fun twist to the product review I was thinking of.
– Amanda Siebert (@amanda_siebert) May 11, 2021
Soon the high began to come. The waves of relaxation I had hoped for began to overflow me in the gentlest possible way. Previous experiences with more than 100 mg of THC have plunged me into an anxious spiral and put me on the next couch, but it hit me differently.
Twitter followers joked that I was going to sleep in no time, and while part of me wondered if they were predicting the future accurately, I managed to stay awake and spend the next two and a half hours laughing at just about anything .
Sacha Baron Cohen does the trick
I pondered the Twitter suggestions, but settled on The Trial of The Chicago 7 and rightly assumed that a film about the aftermath of a 1968 uprising between police and anti-war protesters would be the mood for the evening. When I didn’t giggle to myself at Sacha Baron Cohen’s dynamic but expressionless comment, I was amazed (and sometimes in disbelief) that what I was seeing on screen, although dramatized, was based on reality.
Also 100 mg pain relief
I noticed a couple of other things. In addition to my constant grin, the pain in my hips from the previous day’s training had disappeared. The tension in my neck and shoulders that I felt when I was at a computer for most of the day was nowhere to be found. While 10 mg may have just taken the edge off, at 100 I felt feather light.
When the time to sleep finally came, I clocked shuteye for 10 hours, which I haven’t done in years. No cold sweats, no meltdown, no emergency rooms – just relaxation, a calm mind, and a serious deep calm.
Preparation and mindset can turn horror into happiness
High-dose foods sometimes get a bad rap. But in my experience last week, this is a mistake I’ll make on a regular basis.
Let this be a lesson for my future self, and for anyone else who has the tolerance but is still reluctant to take their edible consumption one step further – do not fight it or fear it; Prepare for it and appreciate it.
By submitting this form you are subscribed to Leafly news and promotional emails and agree to Leafly’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe from Leafly email messages at any time.
Post a comment: