The Edibles Industry: How Consumers are Quickly Fixing the Gap
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Some people love edibles and choose them exclusively. Others refuse the edibles industry altogether. And this split tends to happen for the exact same reasons – the slow onset and long-lasting effect of edibles. Smoking is easy to dose because you take one puff and, within a few minutes, begin to feel the effect of that puff. And if that puff was too weak or too strong, you know to take a bigger or smaller dose next time.
Eating your cannabis, on the other hand, means you’ll feel the effects 30-90 minutes later and the peak effect two to four hours after ingesting it. If you miscalculated your dose, that’s a long time to wait, just to be disappointed and possibly way too medicated.
And that’s not the only reason many cannabis consumers are hesitant to try edibles. Some of had bad experiences in the past due to taking too much. Others are wary of the price point. Still others don’t think they’ll be able to find something they like.
So what can the edibles curious to do figure out their optimal edibles experience?
Learning about titration
Medical cannabis consumers tend to be better than recreational cannabis consumers about figuring out their optimal dosage. This can be because they get doctors’ recommendations or because pain relief is a very clear target to hit. Feeling good is a more vague goal and recreational consumers tend not to track their titration experiments as well.
So what is titration?
For our purposes, titration is the incremental adjustment of your cannabis dose until you reach the desired level of effect. It’s easy to dial up or down your dose when you’re smoking cannabis. It’s a lot harder when you’re consuming edibles and have to wait hours for peak effects.
Titration of edibles requires patience and a willingness to slowly titrate up over several sessions while taking good notes on how each session went. It’s slower but given that the effects last longer when consuming edibles, the process is well worth it.
Sourcing lower doses for titration
Most edibles manufacturers are trying to ensure their customers get the most “bang for their buck”. This generally leads to very potent edibles. For people who are looking to dose heavily and offset high levels of pain or other medical issues, very potent edibles are great. For the average consumer who just wants a good night’s sleep or for someone who is titrating, high dose edibles can be a danger.
Some consumers cut up high dose edibles but it’s hard to ensure that you are cutting up your edibles in precise sections (no matter how big or small). Cutting edibles is especially tricky when the edibles themselves are small and oddly shaped (ie a single gummy bear) and high dose (50mg THC.)
Sourcing good quality edibles in the industry
Edibles have been really popular for years and are only getting more popular due to concerns around smoking this year. However, good edibles are a lot harder to source than good quality flower. When you open a bag or canister of flower, you can immediately see, smell, and feel the quality. If your flower has mildew, you’re unlikely to smoke it.
On the other hand, if your gummy is old or a higher dose than you should actually be taking, it’s harder to tell. There isn’t much you can do to determine you should skip an edible that without first consuming it. Once you’ve consumed the edible, it’s too late to do much about it if it’s old and weak or too strong.
Adding to the problem is that some consumers find that certain otherwise wonderful edibles have an unpleasant taste due to the THC and/or CBD. That unpleasant flavor is something you only learn from experience and usually after buying a whole bag or box of the edibles. If you’re new to edibles and looking for specific gummy recommendations, check out this list of reviewed CBD infused edible gummies by Health.com.
Compared to flower and prerolls, edibles are relatively expensive. It makes sense as processing the cannabis plant and converting it into an edible takes more steps and costs more money to produce.
Just because it’s more expensive for the processors doesn’t change the fact it’s also more pressure on your wallet as a consumer. Price-sensitive consumers tend to be skittish about edibles because the process of titration and then finding something you like in your ideal dosage range can be an overwhelming and expensive project.
So more and more consumers are learning to make their own
As THC-infused edibles become more and more popular so does making marijuana edibles at home. Titration is much easier when you have a stockpile of low-dose edibles on hand and can quickly produce more. Edibles are a lot more accessible when you don’t have to spend a fortune figuring out what you like and how to consistently source it (because you can whip up a new batch whenever.) And you’ll always know exactly how old and how strong all your marijuana-infused edibles are.
If you’re not comfortable preparing your own infused edibles to put into your body, you now have plenty of options for that as well. As Jeff the 420 Chef explains “Do it yourself edibles have never been as easy to create as they are today. Truly innovative and revolutionary products like pre-dosed tasteless canna-oil, cannabutter, infused sugar, and culinary cannabis herbs which have been specifically developed for culinary use, make it incredibly easy to create great tasting, perfectly dosed edibles in the comfort of your own home.”
There are resources for everyone from the edibles novice to the passionate enthusiast to the growing edible business available online.
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