This week let's take a bit of a break from talking about terpenes and talk about an important matter when it comes to cannabis consumption, dosages. Cannabis has long been used for both medicinal and recreational purposes and there's room for both aspects in their own time. But if we're going to talk about consuming cannabis as a medicine, we need to take cannabis at medicinal doses and educate on what that actually means.
Most of us have probably seen this meme at one time or another, the last time I scrolled by this on social media it referenced a math-related problem but this is probably exactly how my face looked when first trying to understand the current dosing methods for cannabis. Calculating the dose for cannabis consumption can be a confusing problem, especially because a lot of the calculations can depend on the type of product that is being consumed. There's actually a lot of variables that go into calculating dosages: for flower it depends on the THC level and if that flower been tested (homegrown flower might not be tested due to the price); for edibles, it depends on how the THC was extracted from the flower, what concentrations were achieved, and then does it get mixed in completely to the final product; and for cannabis products that are inhaled the variations are even more complex. Not only do all the previously stated issues factor in, but then each person has a different lung capacity and potentially different medications on board that factor in, which can all lead to a confusing time when trying to make sure that you're taking the right amount of cannabis.
Living in a legal state, like Oklahoma, does make it a bit easier to determine your doses because state laws mandate that the product be tested at various levels as well as mandating the dosage be put on the package of the product itself. As a caveat though, there isn't enough standardization in the cannabis industry as of yet to say unequivocally that the mg dosage on the packaging is exact to the product, but that is largely due to the newness of the industry as well as the technology it takes to integrate cannabis and food. This is something that is being actively worked on and companies are coming up with some amazing ways to get cannabis into a product and equally distributed throughout the product. Moral of that story is that before purchasing any cannabis product, research into the product and company would be a good idea. This research could easily be done at your local dispensary by talking to your budtender and asking to see the certificate of analysis (COA) for that particular product. Both the budtender and the COA will give you a general understanding of how the cannabis product you picked should affect your body.
Now, when a person goes to the dispensary there can be so many different product brands to choose from that making the first purchase can seem overwhelming. I had the opportunity to attend last months Oklahoma Cannabis Industry Association (OCIA) meeting and was invited to check out the operations area for a cannabis edible company called Nature's Key in Oklahoma City. It was really interesting seeing where their products are processed and learn more about the education they're providing about how to take their different products. I was especially impressed with their "Roadmap to Wellness" as it provides a really good basis for how to consume cannabis in a way to not deal with excessive amounts of negative side effects from too much THC, but also get the intended effect from cannabis. I would really encourage you to visit their site to see if their products are being sold in dispensaries near you. They are still starting out so may not yet be in dispensaries near you, but the Roadmap to Wellness can act as a good template for cannabis in general, but research should be done to make sure that the particular brand you do have access to has the same/similar levels of quality control and similar doses as the products from Nature's Key. This infographic is straight from their website and lines out how they suggest progressing through their products to get the desired effect. The Roadmap starts with a product that is 25 mg CBD and 1 mg THC that a person would take nightly, at least 45 minutes before its time to go to bed. Both CBD and THC are useful for symptoms like pain and inflammation but depending on each person's metabolism and endocannabinoid system, CBD might be the only product that is needed to control the symptom. The person would take this 25:1 gummy for a couple nights in a row to see if they get the intended effect. Trying the same dose 3-6 days in a row will allow for the body to adjust to the dosage and give the patient time to monitor their symptoms for relief. If that first level gummy doesn't work, the Roadmap suggests moving to taking 1.5 gummies on a nightly basis for another 3-6 days. That would mean that the person would be taking 37.5 mg of CBD and 1.5 mg of THC on a nightly basis and it can be increased to be taken in the morning and nightly. If this dose doesn't give the intended effect then you could step up to the next dosage available which is gummies with 25 mg CBD and 10 mg THC and repeat the process over again until the desired effect is reached.
Cannabis is very easily comparable to how prescription medications are increased in a slow step-wise fashion while monitoring the symptoms that the medication is being taken for. The most important piece of information though, is to to start low and increase slowly. While cannabis may not have as many side effects as some prescription medications do, there are still side effects that can make it extremely uncomfortable for a cannabis naive person. Also, there are some interactions between cannabis and prescription medications (generally mood stabilizers, among others), so to make sure that it doesn't cause issues with your current prescription medication regimen, you definitely want to start low and increase slowly. Even with an excellent Roadmap to Wellness model to follow, starting to consume cannabis for a medicinal issue can bring about many questions for the novice consumer. But this is where I can be of help, I offer appointment times either in person or over the phone where we can discuss your particular symptom and how best to go about trying cannabis as a medicine. Reach out to me on social media or here on the blog and we can chat about any of your questions/concerns related to cannabis.
References
Arturferreira (2016) Math lady / confused lady, Know Your Meme. Available at: https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/math-lady-confused-lady (Accessed: 23 May 2023).
Our programs (no date) Natures Key. Available at: https://www.natureskey.us/programs#:~:text=Developed%20specifically%20to%20help%20Veterans,wellness%20of%20our%20nation’s%20veterans. (Accessed: 24 May 2023).
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